


Twintale - The Story of the Eighth and Ninth Human

by Shadow50056



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood and Gore, Gen, Horror, Multi, Multiverse, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2020-03-30 21:35:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 132,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow50056/pseuds/Shadow50056
Summary: In a last ditch attempt to escape, Frisk, alongside her twin brother Harley, run up MT Ebott, and leap into the Underground. What they find is not what they expect. Read as truths are revealed, enemies become friends, and the true threat to the Underground comes to light... F!Frisk F!Chara M!OC. Genocide Route First, No Marty Sue, M for Violence





	1. Prologue - The Twin's Tale

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: As I played Undertale, I viewed Frisk as more of a female CHARActer. Since I view that Toby Fox left Frisk a mute genderless child as an opportunity for the player to create their own story for them, that's what I did. This same reasoning also applies to Chara.
> 
> I do not own Undertale. All rights and names belong to Toby Fox (except my personal character :D)

"Sit down, little ones, and let me tell you a wonderful story. The Tale of Man and Monster."

"Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans, and Monsters."

"One day, a war broke out between the races, and after a long battle, Humans were victorious."

"Driving the monsters Underground, the humans sealed the monsters with a mighty spell, one that could never be broken without the combined power that matched those seven mages."

"After many, many years, humans had all but forgotten about monsters, with all that remained of their legacy being tales. Tales of Mount Ebott, the mountain that towered over the massive populous that was Ebott City."

"Tales of children climbing the mountain, never to return."

"The first of these children was Chara, the human who hated humans. She climbed the mountain to escape from her home, and she found a new one, with Monsterkind, and with the Dreemurrs, the royal family of the Underground. She befriended Asriel, the child of Asgore and Toriel, the King and Queen of monsters, and for a year, she was shown a glimmer of happiness, of joy, while Monsterkind celebrated, for they now had hope, hope for a brighter future that lay within Chara and Asriel."

"But Chara was an empathetic child, and she could see and feel the pain that Monsterkind was going through, having been locked Underground for so long. So she made a plan with Asriel, one that ended up costing the lives of both Chara and Asriel, once again sinking Monsterkind into despair."

"And Asgore, after losing both of his children, declared war on humans, stating that any and all humans that fell Underground - including children - were to be killed, or captured and brought to him. This disgusted Toriel, and she left one night, never to return."

"More years passed by, and eventually, after six more human children had been slain, their souls captured, one child, a little girl, climbed the mountain, and fell deep underground, and discovered the wonders that lay within.

"Here, she met many creatures, and made so many new friends - Sans and Papyrus, the skelly bros that lived in Snowdin Town. Undyne, the Captain of the Royal Guard, who the child managed to show that not all humans were evil. Alphys, the Royal Scientist, who the child helped give the courage to step forwards and be honest about her mistakes, while showing her that everyone deserves a second chance."

"She met Asgore, the King of Monsters, who she showed that, despite his atrocities against the innocent, even he was deserving of Mercy."

"And, she somehow managed to shatter the barrier that had held Monsters Underground for so long, setting them free, and saving an entire race."

"But that was a very long time ago, and in a different timeline. For now, we shall see what happens when a new variable is added to the mix. This tale, is not the tale of Men and Monsters, the one with a happy ending. This tale is full of horrors unthinkable. This tale is of betrayal and redemption. Of pain and love. The story didn't end with one girl coming to the mountain, the tale continued when a pair of twins, a male and female, climbed Mount Ebott, seeking escape...

* * *

"Run, Frisk!" Harley yelled to his sister. He seized her hand, and charged out of the cover of the trees, sprinting up Mount Ebott, with the sounds of dogs barking and howling behind us, followed by the shouts of men.

They ran through the undergrowth, bobbing and weaving through vines and thorns. Still, thorns tore into their hands and arms as they attempted to shield their faces.

They ran higher and higher until they reached a small cavern at the top.

"Whoa!" Harley exclaimed, upon reaching the entrance of a pit. Frisk almost barreled right into it, but he caught her around the waist and hoisted her up.

"Thanks." She said breathlessly.

"You're welcome" Harley responded curtly, and looked towards the exit, hearing the howls of the dogs. He then looked at his twin sister. Her brown hair was cut down to her neck, and it normally looked a lot cleaner than it did right now, as it was covered in leaves. Her pale skin was covered in grime, and her purple and yellow sweater had some tears in it, revealing portions of her bra and her belly. He was glad she had the sweater on. Looking at those… Marks again would fill him with an unreasonable rage, which would probably lead him to make some very rash decisions. And, despite all of this, her red eyes shone very clearly in the dim light, full of worry.

Frisk examined her brother. He was about six inches taller than her, standing at about 5'11", his jet black hair, which was normally kept very closely cropped to his head, was a disaster. His skin was just as pale as hers, but he had a slightly better build, even for a sixteen year old. While she was very lean and skinny, he had some muscle built up, as he has to be strong to take the punishments. She winced as he turned, revealing a tear in his black and white sweater, which displayed part of a scar across his back. He turned to face her, his eyes, which were a slightly darker shade of red than hers, flashed in the dark, the worry and anger very clear in them.

"Are you hurt?" Harley asked her.

"No. Not yet, at least." She responded. He gazed at her, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Remember what they said would happen if we ran away again?" She reminded him.

Harley shuddered. "I would die before I let that happen to you," he swore.

The howls grew closer, and Harley seized a large branch off the ground, broke it in half, and handed part of it to Frisk. "Just in case." He commanded.

Frisk looked around, panicking as she heard the howls grow closer and closer. "Bro…" she whispered.

"What is it?" He asked, widening his stance, preparing to fight.

"You know we don't stand a chance, right?"

"Yes. I'm aware. But I'll die before-"

"You let them touch me. I know." She finished. "But we could just jump in this hole."

Harley just stared at her, and she pushed on. "Look, we ran up here trying to disappear,

following the urban legends. So, instead of being the first humans to return safely from the mountain, how about we just disappear?"

"Meet our end, in our own way." Harley said slowly. "Defy these assholes one last time." He grinned humorlessly. "Might as well. We're going to die anyway."

Frisk grabbed his hand. "Ready?"

"Not a moment to lose." He responded. " _All of my worries… all of the flesh we have sacrificed."_

He thought to himself. " _And it finally ends. By_ our  _hands, not theirs."_

" _I love you Harley. You are the best brother I could have ever asked for."_ Frisk thought. " _I am so sorry that you suffered so much in my name. At least it will all finally come to an end."_

As the howls grew closer and closer, brother and sister glanced at each other, one last time, and, with a nod from Frisk, jumped. They jumped to their escape from the suffering that was their lives.

… _.._

Or so they thought.


	2. Demonic Buttercup

"Ugh…" she groaned, opening her eyes and sitting up. Looking around, she was greeted by a large, empty cave, with a small grave on the left side.

"Am I dead?..." Harley's voice sounded from beside her. He opened his eyes, realizing he was still alive, and shot up to his feet, looking confused.

"Uh, where the hell are we?" Harley asked, his echoing all throughout the cavern.

Frisk pointed up, and he followed her finger. High above them, they could see the faint moonlight shining through the hole they jumped through.

"Holy shit…" he muttered. "That is at the very least twenty stories high."

"We should be dead." Frisk agreed. "But we aren't, so let's take advantage of that."

"Sure, why not." He agreed. He held out his hand and helped her up. And, together, they cautiously walked out of the cave. Frisk took a quick glance at the gravestone, and could've sworn that she saw something shimmer and move. Frisk blinked, and it vanished, so she pushed it off as a figment of her imagination.

In the next room, they were greeted by an exact copy of the room they had just left, little circle of flowers and all. The only difference was that this one had a large flower sticking out of it. With a face. It smiled at them and seemed to beckon forward.

"Howdy!" It called out "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!"

"This is not going to end well." Harley muttered as Frisk walked towards the sentient flower. With a sigh, he followed her.

Flowey observed them. "Hmmm… You guys are new to the Underground, I aren'tcha?"

Frisk nodded, as Harley watched silently.

"Golly, you must be so confused!"

"Well, kinda." Frisk admitted, as Harley still stood there and stared at Flowey, studying him.

"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! And I guess little old me will have to do."  
Suddenly, the world flashed. Everything turned retro, with only two things shining: Two red heart-shaped objects in front on Harley and Frisk.

"See those heart shaped objects?" Flowey asked, and Frisk nodded. "That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!"

"Your soul starts out weak, but can grow strong if you collect lots of LV."

"What's LV?" Frisk asked

"Level?" Harley asked questioningly.

"No, sillies! LV stands for LOVE, of course! You want love, don't you?" Frisk shrugged and nodded.

"Don't worry! I'll share some with you!"  
Suddenly, five white oval shaped objects appeared behind him, spinning at rapid speeds. "Down here." Flowey continued. "LOVE is shared through little white 'Friendliness Pellets.' Catch as many as you can!" The ovals shot towards Frisk, and she tentatively reached out a hand to catch one.

"Frisk!" Harley shouted, and he dashed in front of her, throwing out his arms. Two of the bullets ripped through his shoulders, flying past her head, and the rest must've hit his SOUL. He collapsed, bleeding.

"Harley!" Frisk screamed. She glared at Flowey, and recoiled in shock at what she saw The friendly smile on his face was gone and in its place was a vicious, evil smile, full of twisted glee.

"You idiot!" he laughed. "In this world, it's kill or be killed!"

A vine shot out, and slammed into Frisk's chest, knocking her back several feet.

"The smart one dies first!" Flowey snarled. Harley coughed up blood, and rose to his feet, raising his fists.

"Bring it, buddy." he challenged, spitting blood at him.

Flower chuckled. A huge ring of white ovals surrounded Harley. "Die!"

The bullets rocketed towards Harley, as a scream of horror tore out of Frisk's throat. However, a blast of fire shot through the air, circling around Harley and destroying the bullets. Another ball of flames then flew through the air and slammed into Flowey, knocking him into the distant cave wall.

"What a horrid creature." said a female voice. "Torturing such a poor, innocent youth."

And out of the darkness stepped a.. goat.


	3. Frogpocalypse

Frisk screamed again and stepped back. "Oh!" The goat said in surprise. "There are two of you!" She began to stride towards them, a concerned expression crossing her face.

Harley stepped in front of Frisk protectively, shielding her from its sight. "Stay away from my sister!" he shouted weakly, coughing up more blood as he wobbled on his feet. After a few moments, he crashed to the ground, unconscious.

"Harley!" Frisk screamed again. She ran over to him, temporarily forgetting about the goat.

"Oh, dear." Frisk heard her say.

"No no no  _no_  Harley!" Frisk shook him. "We did not survive that fucking fall for you to die on me now!"

He groaned. "Allow me." the goat woman said, and placed her paws on his head and chest. Green light emitted from them, and he groaned again, his eyes fluttering open.

"Goat?" He asked, gazing at her as he sat up.

She chuckled. "Do not be afraid, my dear children. I am Toriel, the Caretaker of these Ruins."

"How did you know we were here?" Frisk asked her.

"I didn't. I pass through these ruins every day to see if anyone has fallen down."

"You mean we aren't the first to survive the fall?"

"No. As far as I am aware, all children that come here survive the initial fall. Although it has been a while since someone has fallen." She stood, and turned around. "Come! I will guide you through the ruins."

Harley clambered to his feet and began to follow her. Frisk grabbed onto his arm. "Are you sure?" she whispered

He shrugged. "Might as well. It's not like there's anywhere else to go." He muttered.

"And she did heal you." She agreed.

"So let's go."

Harley began to walk out when Frisk saw a glimmer of motion again. "Harley, I'm going to stay for a moment. I have to…" she quickly thought of an excuse. "Use the restroom."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Ok. Don't take long, or I'm coming back in." He turned away.

"What if I'm naked?" Frisk called out after his retreating back.

"I'd rather be embarrassed than find you dead." He called back.

Frisk chuckled, and turned around…

And saw a girl, about her age, standing there.

She jumped back. "The  _fuck_!?" Frisk swore. The girl seemed just as surprised, her eyes wide.

"You can see me?" She asked, but she didn't sound surprised.

"Uh, yeah!" Frisk looked at her. Other than the fact that she was lighter than her, and wore a green and yellow sweater, she looked exactly like Frisk. Even her eyes were red.

"I've been following you since you two idiots fell down here," she told Frisk, "You didn't notice me 'till now, and your brother completely ignored me.

"Wait. How didn't he see you?" Frisk asked, confused.

She rolled her eyes. "Isn't it pretty obvious? I'm dead. The grave you were staring at back there is mine. What year is it, anyway?"

"Its 2018."

Her mouth hung open. "A-are you sure?" she stammered.

"Uhhh, yeah. Why? How long has it been?

"I died in 1918." She informed her. "It's been a hundred years."

"How did you die?" Frisk asked curiously

She frowned. "I'm not telling you that."

Frisk shrugged. "Worth a try. Anyways, let's go."

After joining Harley, Toriel showed them the ruins, explaining that since all monsters loved puzzles, the Underground was full of them, for "enjoyment."

She then took them to a dummy, and told them to talk to it. Frisk awkwardly said, "Hi," but Harley just stared at Toriel like she was insane.

Eventually, after running off and having them catch up with her for no reason at all, Toriel left them alone, instructing them to wait for her there.

After a few moments of silence, Harley stretched and said, "Fuck this." and stood. Frisk followed suit.

"We heading out?" she asked him.

He grinned. "She ain't my mother."

They took a few steps, when a frog appeared out of nowhere, pulling Frisk's and Harley's souls out of their bodies. More of those oval shaped bullets popped up, except these had little wings. It buzzed around Harley for a couple moments, and then slammed into his soul, causing him to gasp in pain, dropping his stick.

Frisk heard a sound behind her, and turned, just in time for a frog to slam headfirst into her soul, filling Frisk with excruciating pain. Frisk stumbled backward and fell flat on her back. She looked up, and realized they were surrounded by frogs, hopping forwards.

"Get up!" Chara shouted. "The Froggits are going to kill you!"

A…  _Froggit_ , jumped onto Frisk's belly, and glared at her, croaking reproachfully.

"It said that your brother killed one of them, and the last human that came through here nearly killed them all. So the race has come together to kill you two before that can happen."

"But I don't want to kill you!" Frisk shouted.

"He will kill you." Chara commented calmly. "If you don't want to, you can grant me permission to bond with you."

"The hell is that?" Frisk asked.

"Means that, with your permission, I can possess you. You might want to decide quickly, before you die."

"Permission granted!" Frisk shouted.

Chara let loose a smile. "Accepted."

She floated into her, and the Froggit on Frisk's chest leaped up, aiming to land on her soul. Suddenly, Frisk felt as if she was watching her own body move. She watched as her arm shot forward of its own accord, seizing the Froggit by the throat and crushing it.

"It's so good to have a body." Chara's voice rang out from Frisk's mouth. She drew a knife- where the hell did she get a  _knife_  from?- and spun in an arc, eliminating the closest frogs. The frogs stepped back nervously, and Chara gazed at Harley. He managed to relocate his stick, and his forearms were covered in dust.

" _Dust?"_  Frisk thought, confused.

"When monsters die, they turn into dust." Chara replied, nonchalant. "See?" she sliced through another Froggit.

" _Oh, okay. Carry on."_

She jumped to the side, dodging another bullet, and cut down one last Froggit. Breathing heavily, she turned to face Harley, only to receive a kick to the stomach, knocking her back. Her head slammed into the ground, causing an explosion of white to flash past Frisk's eyes. Something cold pressed against her throat, and a heavy weight on her chest pinned her to the floor.

When she she blinked the stars out of her vision, she saw Harley, holding what she guessed was the knife to her throat, and that it was his knee causing the pressure on her chest.

"Who are you, and what did you do with my sister!?"


	4. The Demon Awakens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Okay. All thoughts are italics. This includes when the bonded Chara and Frisk speak, since whoever isn't in command of the body is technically thinking.
> 
> Otherwise, Enjoy!

"Who are you, and what did you do with my sister!?"

Harley's voice echoed throughout the cave.

The person possessing his sister's body lay perfectly still, lest he'd slit her throat. " _Good."_ Harley thought. " _That means that she fears for Frisk's body's safety. Means she won't do anything stupid."_

"I'm Frisk." she replied innocently.

Growling, he lifted the knife and tossed it aside. Chara followed his movements warily, only to yelp in pain as he backhanded her, striking her across her face. Harley grasped her by the throat and raised his fist threateningly. "Who. Are. You."  
"A-alright!" She choked out. Harley lowered his fist and readjusted his grip, but he kept his hand on her throat.

"My name is Chara." she told him, "I met Frisk when she hung back after you were almost killed by Flowey."

Harley's brow furrowed. "Stop lying. I checked out that room, all I saw was a grave."

"Yeah, you just couldn't see me."

"Couldn't…"

"I mean, if the fact that I'm not your sister, but clearly am in your sister's body doesn't prove anything to you, what will?"

Harley scowled at her, clearly not happy about the situation. "So you're a ghost?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, probably."

"Who are you exactly? How'd you die?"

She scowled, mirroring his expression. "How I died is none of your business." She growled. "However, I will tell you this- I was the first human to fall into the Underground."

"Hmm…" Harley mused. "Did a monster kill you? You seem to handle yourself pretty well."

"No." She replied curtly. "When I was alive, no monster would attack humans without being provoked. I have no idea why these Froggits assaulted y-you…"

She gasped, and, with an unexpected show of force, shoved Harley off. He flew through the air, but in a remarkable show of agility, Harley twisted in the air, landing on his feet.

" _The fuck? I've never been able to do that!"_  Harley was shocked, but even more so when he looked up. Chara was standing, glaring at him, the eyes on Frisk's face having changed. They were now completely black, except for the red of her pupils.

"You…" She growled. Harley stood.

"Chara, what're you doing!" he shouted. She drew a knife, and shot towards him…

Only for Harley to dodge her initial strike, and with speed that yet again surprised him, slammed his fist into Frisk's face, knocking her down yet again.

Harley kicked the knife out of her hand, and grasped her throat, somehow managing to lift her off the ground. However, when he looked into her face, Harley saw that she had returned to normal.

"The m-monsters will hear of the s-slaughter you and I committed here." She managed to say, and Harley put her back down.

"Slaughter?" Harley asked indignantly. "They attacked us! It was self defense!"

"The won't care." she replied, rubbing her throat. "Especially when they see our LV."

"Our LOVE?" Harley asked, confused.

"Our Levels of Violence." she replied. "Sit down here, and eject your soul."

"Uhh…. How?"

"Concentrate on ejecting it out of your body." She said impatiently.

Harley sat and focused, and somehow, ejected his soul. The world around them once again went retro, and he could see his soul had changed.  
"There are six positive soul traits." Chara explained. "Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, and Justice, each represented by the colors cyan, orange, blue, purple, green, and yellow. Then there are the negative souls traits, which, when I died, were still in investigation. The discovered ones were Hatred, represented by black, Fear, represented by pink, dark red for Rage, and indigo for Pride." She pointed at their souls "and ours is a neutral soul trait, since it isn't considered to be either negative or positive. The red of Determination."

"Huh." Harley said, absorbing that information. "Something is wrong with our souls."

"Look closely." She told him. "Look at your LV."

Harley looked for it, and saw 'LV - 3'.

She scooted close to him, leaning her head on his shoulder, and began to talk softly, her breath hot on Harley's ear. "Whenever you kill a monster, you soul gains Execution Points, EXP for short." She snaked her arms around his left one. "Eventually, your EXP converts to LV, and you get stronger." she scooted closer, so her torso was pushing against Harley's arm. "That is my you are getting stronger, faster, and more agile."

Harley shook his head. "That doesn't explain why my soul is different."

"Well, it kinda does." she replied. "Exposing your soul your soul to EXP and LV causes the hidden, negative trait to come out and reveal itself."

Harley's soul was still mostly red, but about one-fourth of it was much, much darker. " _Rage."_  he thought. " _Makes sense, I guess."_

Chara cast her soul beside Harley's, and he could see that, alongside the red, a portion of it was black. "Hatred." Chara commented, leaning in so close that his left arm was now crushed between their bodies, and Harley could feel her lips brushing against his ear.

Harley shot to his feet, and spun to face her, and saw the expression on her face. It was one of primal desire.

"Hold on a fucking minute, Chara. You do remember that's my sister's body, right?"

She pouted. "And? It is my mind."

"Uh, no. My sister is in there. You're simply renting the space"

"And? She isn't doing anything!"

"Not happening." Harley growled. "Was type of bullshit is this? That's by sister's body!"

"What if it wasn't?" She asked. She scrunched up her face in concentration, and Frisk's form flickered and changed into another, her sweater blending from green to yellow, and her skin lightening.

Chara held the form that Harley assumed was her body for a few moments, and then changed back, the body collapsing onto its knees as it changed once more into Frisk.

"Fuck." She swore. "I need to be stronger to be able to make it permanent. However." She looked up at him, and smiled seductively. "Did you like what you saw?"

Harley was many things, but a liar isn't one, so instead of responding, he stood. "When will you release my sister?"

Chara pouted again. "I'll do it now. However, expect to see me again soon. Your sister isn't the best killer."

"Fine, whatever. Just release her."

Chara waved at him. "Till next time, Harley."

She slumped over, and went still. "Frisk?" Harley asked cautiously.

Frisk sat up, gasping for air, and Harley leaped back. "Harley?" she asked weakly. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" he asked her. "Wait. What is the last thing you remember?"

"I remember you attacking me." Frisk told him. "You backhanded me, and it all went dark."

Harley helped Frisk up. "Come on. Let's keep walking. I'll fill you in on the way."


	5. Roach Infestation

Chara was right, Harley and Frisk didn't get very far.

They had exited the dust-covered room and gone through a room that had a 'trap' where Harley had to push a large rock onto a button (which was really easy, seeing his increased LV). While they were doing this, Harley was explaining what happened to Frisk. (He elected to keep the last part to himself. She doesn't need the knowledge that the spirit possessing her was trying to seduce him. Harley was still trying to wrap his own head around it.)

"-and then I told her to allow you to take control again." Harley finished telling Frisk.

"So your increased LV is causing the trait of Rage to corrupt you?" she asked worriedly.

"Nah." Harley assured her. "You know me! I'm a calm person. Not much ticks me off."

"Only when someone threatens me." she agreed, appearing to calm down a bit. "That's true. You are the most disciplined person I know."

"Exactly." Harley smiled, which quickly grew sour as Chara's words crossed his mind." _Expect to see me again soon. Your sister isn't the best killer_."

"Frisk?"

"Yes?"

"You allowed Chara to take control of you because you couldn't kill the Froggits, right?"

She nodded. "They were fighting out of self-defense. They were afraid of us! I couldn't kill the poor creatures."

"They were about to kill you!" He protested. "I saw the frog about to land on your SOUL before Chara took over!"

"Better I die than I become a murderer." Frisk responded. "Look, you are able to justify your actions against the Froggits because they attacked us, but surely you wouldn't have if you had heard why they had done it, right? You probably would have surrendered!"

Harley stopped walking. "No. I wouldn't have." Frisk's head snapped to face him, shocked. "Sis, I will kill  _anyone_ who looks as if they mean to cause you harm."

"You would kill innocents?" she asked incredulously.

"If they attack us, they're no longer innocents." he countered. "If we were on the surface, then they'd be guilty of assault!"

Frisk shook her head. "I didn't want to mention it… But you realize that, if that was every Froggit you guys killed, Chara and you committed Genocide." she coldly remarked. "Was that-"

"Still self-defense?" Harley finished. "Yes! They kept attacking!"

She just kept staring at Harley, and he sighed. "Do me a favor, Frisk. Eject your soul."

"How the fuck-"

"Just concentrate. That is what Chara had me do."

"Fine." Her brow furrowed, and, after a few seconds, her soul appeared, turning the world retro. Her soul was still the color of Determination, but Harley could see a small sliver of black Hatred on the left side. Her LV was at 3.

"What the fuck!?" she exclaimed. "I didn't kill anything!"

"Yes, you did." Harley grimly told her. "It's still your body."

She pointed at the black. "I don't hate! I literally would die first!" she went quiet. "Oh. Chara says that's hers."

"Her soul is affecting yours?" Harley asked.

"She said it shouldn't get any worse. It is just a symbol of our bonded spirits."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yes, I am."

Harley shrugged. "Okay, as long as you don't mind." he turned. "Let's keep on going. "

They walked out of the rock room, and through a room with a weak floor and only one small clear path that they found through sheer luck, and into another room, this one having three rocks.

Out of nowhere, a group of insect-looking creatures appeared. They had two antennas, sharp teeth, claws, and pincers, with the nastiest frown.

"You killed them all!" one shouted, and launched a volley of creepy roach-looking attacks, while the rest charged at Harley, their pincers snapping.

Harley dodged the bullets and slammed his foot on the nearest one, crushing it immediately. Then, Harley swiped his stick in an arc, hitting another two, and they exploded into clouds of dust. Then the rest overtook him, biting and slashing at his hands and chest. Harley howled in rage, and, dropping his stick, began pulling them off. He then flipped in the air and landed on his back, killing the ones on there, and injuring himself in the process. And yet more came. There was at least twenty in the cavern, and Harley's HP was dropping quick.

Out of nowhere, Harley heard a cry of anger, and Frisk -not Chara,  _Frisk_ \- rushed to his aid, seizing one roach, and smashing a stick into it. She then began to dust every roach in her reach, and Harley ripped the ones on him off.

Eventually, the ones that survived the onslaught retreated. "And don't come back!" Frisk shouted. She turned to face Harley, and he saw the dust coating her stick and up to her wrist. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he nodded. Harley took a step towards her, and immediately collapsed to the floor, blacking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment on your thoughts for my story! I would greatly appreciate it.
> 
> Until next time!


	6. It Begins

" _Those are Migosps."_ Chara told Frisk. " _They are vicious in packs."_

Frisk watched as they encircled Harley, and, out of nowhere, one shouted, "You killed them all!" and they all attacked him.

" _Well?"_ Chara demanded. " _What are you waiting for? An invitation?"_

" _What do you mean?"_ Frisk asked her.

" _Uh, hello? Your Harley is being attacked."_

Frisk waved my hand dismissively. " _He will be fine. He is a big, strong man! He can kill small creatures so well!"_

" _Are you seriously choosing these things over him?!"_ Chara shrieked. They watched as he, out of obvious desperation, flipped over, and landed on his back, crushing some of the Migosps. " _They are killing him!"_

" _It is his decision to fight. He could try to, you know, calm them down."_

" _You are so stupid! Give me control. I will save him then."_

" _No."_

" _Don't make me do this the hard way."_

" _Like you could do anything."_

Frisk yelped in pain, as a wave of anger assaulted her. She could feel Chara fighting for her body. However, this was Frisk's body, and she would be damned before anyone controlled it against her will.

" _Step down."_  Frisk commanded her, and pushed Chara's attack back.

Chara sighed, and roared. An image of a demented Chara appeared, with black, soulless pits for eyes, and Frisk was knocked back on her behind. Frisk shook her head, and saw the situation in front of her. Her brother was being assaulted, and it filled her with anger.

With Hatred.

" _Now go!"_ Chara yelled.

Frisk screamed, and charged forward, assisting her brother, beating back the creatures.

After the creatures retreated, Frisk yelled, "And don't come back!" She turned to face Harley. "Are you okay?"

" _Like you care."_ Chara hissed.

" _Shut up."_

Harley nodded, then collapsed.

" _No!"_ Chara and Frisk screamed in unison.

Frisk ran towards him. "His soul!"

" _Don't mind his soul, it won't be damaged!"_ she yelled. " _Check his wounds!"_

Frisk examined him. His sweater was torn even worse, revealing lines of criss-cross wounds. But due to all the blood, she couldn't tell what was old and what was new. In a panic, Frisk ripped off his sweater, and attempted to use it to mop up the blood.

" _Quit your panicking!"_ Chara shouted. " _It's not going to help anyone!"_

Having mopped up all the blood, Frisk saw his injured form, the cuts and deep gashes running all along his body, fresh blood beginning to well up in them. With a cry of frustration, she began to sob.

" _Frisk!"_ Chara shouted. " _If Harley dies because you are being a little bitch, I will make your life a living hell!"_

In response, Frisk ripped her sweater off too, and tore the sleeve right off. She then wrapped it around his belly, where the three worst wounds were. Next, she ripped the other sleeve off, pulled her sweater back on, and began mopping up the wounds.

"I'm going to kill them all." Frisk sobbed. "I will fucking destroy them  _all_!"

" _Chara?"_ Frisk asked, but she didn't answer. Instead, she could hear a faint growling in the back of her head. " _Uh… Chara?"_

" _Focus on Harley!"_ she snapped.

Frisk turned her attention back to Harley, whose wounds were slowly closing on their own. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and his arm shot out, seizing Frisk's arm, and tossing her a short distance away.

He jumped to his feet, with a snarl, his teeth bared. "You almost let me die!" He raged. He looked like he was going to attack Frisk, but something was holding him back.

"Harley!" Frisk yelled. "It's me, Frisk!"

He bared his teeth, and stalked towards her, as she backed up out of fear. "Was this self defense!? Or does this finally classify as an unprovoked attack to your precious morals, Frisk!?" Her back bumped into the cavern wall, and Harley was inches away towering over her. His red eyes were on fire, burning with Rage. "Is it?!" He shouted.

Frisk felt something flare up within her. "Yes!" she snarled. "They attacked  _us_. They deserve  _to burn f_ or what they did!" Realizing something was wrong, Frisk pushed Harley aside, gripping her head. For some reason, Chara and Frisk, who were speaking in unison, were switching places. At one point she was speaking aloud, the next it was in her own head.

" _What is your plan, Frisk?" Chara taunted her. "Are you going to keep whimpering like a coward? Or are you going to-"_

Frisk cut her off. " _Genocide."_

Her decision made, she spun to face Harley. "These animals keep attacking us. They deserve-"

"Death." Harley finished, a wicked smile growing across his face. "All of them. Go big or go home, right? Besides," He made a fist, and ejected his soul. "I'm wondering… My LV is at 4 now, and I have never felt better. I wonder what it feels like to be at max?"

Frisk grinned. "Let's find out, my brother."

" _That's better."_ Chara purred. " _And you will give me turns, yes?"_

" _When I want a nap."_ Frisk answered.

" _Good enough."_

Harley turned on his heel. "Let's get out of these god damned ruins already. Let's find out how strong we can get before leaving them."

They walked out of the tri-rock room, and entered a room that had a mouse hole, old cheese, and… a floating, glowing, yellow star.

Harley and Frisk glanced at each other curiously, and Harley walked over to it and snatched it out of the air. A large box appeared in front of them.

HARLEY LV 4

FRISK LV 4

DETERMINATION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _There will be three arcs to the original story, with the first being Genocide_


	7. The Calm

HARLEY LV 4

FRISK LV 4

DETERMINATION

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAVE?

Y/N

"Uh, sure." Harley answered.

FILE SAVED

The star vanished from Harley's hand and reappeared in the air.

He shrugged. "Let's go."

They stormed through the ruins, slaughtering every creature in sight. Bugs, slime, sentient eyes, they didn't care. They all died. They even try to kill this ghost monster. It could have been a difficult fight, but, unlike the rest, he didn't really try to fight back. He just kept apologizing, which Chara found really annoying, and at the end, he told them that as he was a ghost, he couldn't die, and floated off.

Harley just seemed more annoyed by the fact that their LV hadn't gone up again, even after all those kills. It stubbornly remained at 4.

They finally reached a house at the end of the ruins, on which Chara identified as Toriel's, alongside another glowing star. After 'Saving'(even though they still have no clue what that means)

"So." Harley asked. "What to do."

" _Get some rest."_ Chara said. " _Toriel won't realize that you two are committing Genocide. She will feed, clothe, and give you guys a place to sleep. You can leave in the morning."_

Frisk relayed what Chara said to Harley, who nodded. "Sounds good." He agreed. "I'm pretty hungry, and you did destroy our sweaters back there. Maybe she has more clothes?"

"Hopefully. Rest it is." Frisk agreed.

Right as they went to walk in, Toriel walked out. "Oh!" she gasped. "You two are here! And you are all cut up… Come in."

She walked them in, and directed them to a restroom. "Wash up, please. I will have fresh clothes ready when you are done." She hurried away.

Harley and Frisk exchanged looks. "There is two of us, and one bathroom." she said aloud.

" _Don't act weird. You don't have to get naked. Just get the dirt off you, or she will."_

Frisk told Harley what Chara said, and he sighed. "Whatever. We used to share a tiny room anyways. We've seen each other in our undergarments before."

Frisk could feel a strange hunger radiating from Chara as they walked into the restroom. " _She probably just wants command of my body."_ Frisk thought. " _Fine. She can clean me, save me the trouble."_

When Frisk and Harley walked in, they saw two sinks, both on opposite ends of the bathroom. One by the shower, the other by the toilet.

"Two sinks in a small ass bathroom." Harley complained.

Frisk smirked. "Quit your bitching. We are just washing off." Frisk grabbed a towel off the wall, and chucked it at him, which he deftly caught.

" _I am taking a nap now. Chara, take over." S_ he ordered, walking over to the sink by the toilet and pulling her destroyed sweatshirt off.

Frisk could feel Chara's sneer. " _Don't presume to command me."_

" _I could always eject you."  
_ " _You could try."_

These arguments started happening a few rooms ago. Chara wanted to take charge, but Frisk wouldn't let her, due to Frisk trying to get used to killing. Frisk was not comfortable with it. In fact, she isn't even completely sure why she said it, or ever even thought of it. She feels as if it wasn't actually her, like something else told me to do it, but, since she has no memory of someone other than Harley, Frisk just attributes it to lack of nerves.

Anyways, Chara and Frisk began arguing, and they haven't stopped since.

" _Are you going to take command?"_ Frisk demanded _._

Without a word, Chara and Frisk switched places.

" _Have fun cleaning."_ Frisk taunted

" _Oh I will."_ She said.

It was strange. Right before fading into the dark void of sleep, Frisk could still feel that strange hunger from Chara, alongside a faint gnawing at her conscious- for some reason, this all felt familiar to her.

Then, nothing.

Chara stretched, and looked around at Harley, who had found and sat on a stool, and was cleaning the Dust off his chest and arms. Chara froze in shock, for the first time seeing something on his back. An old scar that spelled something, with three large zigzags crossing it out.

She turned around, and unbuttoned her pants, cleaning the Dust off Frisk's arms. Frisk had her share of scars too, on her belly, thighs, calves, and arms.

Chara walked over to Harley, who seemed completely focused on his own task, and studied his back. The scar on his back spelled out… 2… W… E… A… K. 2 WEAK. Too weak.

" _Too weak to do what?"_ She wondered.

Harley sighed, and she flinched. "Hello, Chara."

"How did you know it was me?" Chara asked incredulously.

He looked at her in the mirror. "Frisk would never look at any of my scars by choice, but she would begin to cry if she ever looked at that particular one again."

Chara lightly ran her finger across the three crosses over the words, smirking as she felt Harley flinch under her touch. "And why is it crossed out?"

"That was me."

Chara wrapped her arms around his waist, and, brushing her lips against his ear, she asked, "Why?"

"Chara." He growled, standing and breaking her grip. "I stand by what I said before."

"But  _why_." Chara whined.

"That is my sister's body."

"But it is my mind, knowledge, and experience! She isn't even awake right now."

He shook his head and turned around again. "No, Chara. That's final."

Toriel walked in. "Are you dressed?"

"Uh no." Harley answered rudely. "You are supposed to ask that before you enter, y'know."

She frowned. "You must be tired. Children as old as you know not to talk to their elders in such a manner,"

Harley shot Chara an exasperated look. "Yes, we're done."

She handed him a stack of clothes. "I will wait for you outside this room."

She walked out, and Harley unfolded the stack, seeing his clothes. The exact ones he was wearing when he fell. He tossed the other pile to Chara, and it indeed was Frisk's exact outfit.

"Sweet." Chara said. "She used magic to recreate your clothes."

"That's a bit creepy if you ask me." Harley responded, walking over. He was already dressed.

"That was quick."

"I have practice."  
"You had a tough life too, didn't you?" she asked him.

"Too?" He asked.

" _Shit"_

"Actually, I don't want an answer. If you answer, I have to answer. And I don't want to answer." He walked to the door. "Hurry up."

Chara stood in front of the mirror and sighed. " _I have to avoid speaking. Otherwise, Toriel will recognize me. And I can't have that…"_ She poked Frisk's chest. " _I miss my body. I can't wait to get it back… And my new allies will help me erase this world, and start anew. And Harley doesn't suspect a thing. Frisk, your soul will be mine, and I will have my revenge."_ Chara ejected her soul, and gazed fondly at it. The small black part was bigger. Not by much, but it was. The corruption must be deepening. The more LV they obtained, the stronger Chara became. Eventually, she would be strong enough to take a permanent form, and be rid of Frisk.

Harley was another thing. Either Chara seduced him to her side, or she destroyed him. Neither is an easy task.

" _Maybe some bonding would help?"_ Chara mused. " _We could both talk about ourselves. I guess I could reveal little bits and pieces of my past. It's not like it matters in the long run. He won't remember by the time I am done with this timeline."_ Chara sighed again. " _This would be so much easier if it was just amnesic Frisk. But Harley is stronger, and harder to manipulate. Ugh."_

Chara dressed and walked outside to join Harley and Toriel.

"Took you long enough _."_ Harley complained, scowling. "Were you talking to yourself _?"_

Chara could tell by the look on his face that he meant Frisk. She shook her head, and mimed cleaning herself.

If Harley found odd that Chara wasn't speaking, he didn't mention it. He just nodded.

"Follow me, children." Toriel gently commanded, ushering Harley and Chara forward. She brought them to a small door.

"You two are twins, right?" She asked.

"Obviously." Harley snorted.

She shook her head in disapproval. "This is your room. Get some rest, please. I expect better attitudes in the morning."

She walked away, and Harley chuckled, leading the way into the room.

"This woman is living her last hours concerned about attitudes." He laughed.

Harley sat down in one of the bed, and pulled his sweatshirt off, tossing it on the floor. "Why did you choose Frisk, Chara?" He asked suddenly.

"I didn't choose her, Harley" Chara told him. "I was pulled out of the void after you guys arrived, and Frisk saw me after Flowey attacked you guys. After that, she bonded me to her."

He sighed. "Get some rest. We leave the ruins in a few hours." He then lied down, and soon after his breathing grew steady.

" _Well, fuck. There goes my plan."_ Chara sighed. " _Another time."_

She began to relax, and was asleep in a few minutes.


	8. The Queen of the Underground

Harley awoke to the sound of the door creaking shut.

The lamp beside him, which Harley knew he had left on, was off, so he couldn't see anything. Which was somehow  _infuriating_. More than it should've, too. The lamp was only an arm's length away.

Harley sighed, and sat up, turning the lamp on, and walked over to Frisk's sleeping form. "Hey, you." Harley shook her. "Get up."

"Hey, you?" Frisk's voice. "I have a name, y'know."

"Well, I didn't know who was controlling your body at the moment." He retorted. "So expect a lot of that."

"Whatever. Anyways, I was up talking to Chara. I had asked her if there was a way to leave without killing Toriel, and she said yes. All we have to do is -"

"I don't care." Harley said. "Total genocide was our deal, remember?"

"What happened to self defense?" She asked.

"Frisk, this was your idea! You are the one who chose this path!"

"Well, that might have been Chara."

"No!" Harley shouted, growing angry. "It was you! It was  _your_  voice! These monsters are set on killing us. You must decide what you want to do!" He turned away, spotting a piece of pie on the floor. He picked it up and handed it to her. "Sis, eat. I am going to go and explore. Meet me in the room with the stairs in ten minutes."

Annoyed, Harley walked out of her room. He wasn't particularly interested in Toriel's house, but he needed to get some space from Frisk. Also, it was a good opportunity to look for a new weapon. As these monsters keep growing stronger and stronger, it was actually pretty ridiculous that he was still using a stick to kill them. Chara had her knives, but Harley wanted one too.

Harley searched around the house, looking high and low (Toriel was in a chair, reading a book) but unfortunately, he was unable to find anything…

Until he looked on the other side of the butterscotch pie.

It was a frying pan. Not much, but something.

Harley went to Toriel. "So, uh Toriel."

"Good morning my child." she said brightly, smiling.

"It's morning? How can you tell?" he asked, briefly amazed.

"Years of experience, my dear child." she replied cheerfully.

"Uh, ok. Anyways, how can we leave the Ruins?"  
She froze. "S-so do you want to hear an interesting fact about snails?"

"No. I don't. I want to know how to leave."

"L-listen to this-"

"No." Harley firmly said. "Tell me how to leave, now."

She stood. "I have to go do something. Wait here." She hurried off, heading downstairs.

Harley walked to the staircase and saw Frisk standing by the top step. "I could have told you where the exit was." Chara observed.

"What happened to Frisk?" Harley asked.

"She was going to try to physically stop you, so I seized control of her body."

He narrowed my eyes. "At any other time, I'd have a problem with that. However, I can't afford to be fighting Frisk now, too, so I'll leave you be.

Chara shook her head. " _If only he knew that this combat will probably restore Frisk. It's a shame, it was quite nice to have her as a noob."_

Harley and Chara walked downstairs and saw Toriel standing in the middle of the corridor. "Turn back." She said, running into the next room.

When they approached her again, she spoke "Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You children are so naive... If you leave the Ruins... They... ASGORE... will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? Go to your room."

"Not turning back, lady." Harley muttered, and stepped forward into the next room.

Inside, on the far end, stood a large purple door, with an unfamiliar symbol on it. " _A coat of arms?"_ He wondered. " _It does match the symbol on Toriel's gown_."

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others." Toriel declared, facing the door. "There is only one solution to this." She slowly turned on heel, and, igniting her hands with fire, shouted, "Prove yourself! Prove to me that you are worthy!" She hurled with the fire with such force that Harley barely dodged it, and it exploded behind Chara and him. Harley readied his frying pan, and Chara drew her knife.

They charged forward together, moving at incredible speeds. Harley swung his pan at Toriel, who jumped back, only to have to dodge to the side as Chara leaped forwards, swinging her knife in an arc.

Harley threw his frying pan, hitting Toriel between the eyes. He then ran and kicked her in the kneecap. Hearing a crunch, she collapsed, but she managed to punch him in the chest with such destructive force, Harley flew back several yards.

Chara stood over her, and lifted her knife, and began to swing, but stopped in mid-air. She appeared to be frozen.

"Toriel!" Frisk's voice called out. "They are actually trying to kill you!"

So that was it. Frisk was fighting Chara for control. As Harley struggled to stand, Toriel seized Frisk, and bodily threw her at him, knocking Harley down again.

"You actually mean to harm me?" Toriel asked. All friendliness was gone from her voice; in its place was anger and menace. "I was holding back, but no longer." She stood, her leg obviously healed. "I am Toriel Dreemurr. I fought in the Great War- fought and killed Humans much stronger than you two… children. And yet you seek to kill me." she let out a dry chuckle, and, with a swift motion, drew out their souls. "Goodbye."

Harley and Chara watched in horror as her hands filled with flames, and she shot a powerful beam of fire at them, burning them alive. Harley roared in pain as his HP depleted and his flesh melted, cursing at Frisk for getting them killed.

Then… Nothing.

The emptiness of the Void. And a screen.

'Do you wish to CONTINUE' it read. Harley looked around, and saw Chara next to him. Chara, not Frisk. In her own body, looking strangely unperturbed by the large box in front of them.

"Where is my sister?" Harley asked.

"She is in my head." Chara assured him. "Since we died with me in control, my form appears."

"What's this box?" he questioned.

"No clue. But I want to CONTINUE. You?"

"Definitely."

They pushed CONTINUE together, and the box lit up.

* * *

Harley and Chara appeared in front of Toriel's house, with their first sight being Toriel running downstairs.

"So that is what SAVES do." Chara mused. "I SAVED when I heard you talking to Toriel. I just had a hunch, I guess."

"Alright." Harley said. "Let me speak to Frisk."

Chara nodded, and then the body began to back up.

"Harley-" she began nervously.

"Don't even try." Harley growled. "You got us killed!"

"But we came back!" she protested.

"You didn't know that would happen!" he yelled. "You chose her over us!"

Frisk looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, Harley, but I can't help you do this."

That stung him. "You're supposed to have my back, no matter what. Remember?!" Harley growled, and spat out, "You can't help!? Fine. Give Chara command. I'll speak about this with you at a length afterwards." he turned away. "Oh, and by the way. When you interfered and got me killed, you caused me intense amounts of pain. Unless you plan to cause me more, don't interfere again."

She ran forward. Harley spun, readying his pan, when she crashed into him, hugging and sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Harley! I wish I was strong enough to help you, but I'm not."

Harley sighed, and lowered his pan, and hugged her tightly, rubbing the back of her head. He could feel his Rage cooling down, as he remembered why he was doing this. "Frisk...It's okay. I know you're too merciful… But I'm trying to protect you, remember? That's why I'm doing this." Harley pulled her head forward, and looked at her in the eyes, giving her a small smile. "I love you, sis. I will do anything to protect you, remember? I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to… Just don't hinder Chara, she's the one that's willing to help me protect you, okay? Please?"

Frisk sniffed. "I won't, I promise."

Harley kissed her on the cheek. "I have to go now. But I'll speak to you afterwards, okay?"

She nodded. "I'm going to give Chara control again, alright?"

"Alright." Harley quickly pulled himself out of Frisk's grasp.

"Hey, Harley." Chara said. "Don't worry. Frisk won't be interfering anymore, especially after this fight."

Harley's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"The increase in LV. It will help her push past her mercy."

"It won't force her to, right?"

Chara smiled sweetly. "Of course not. Don't worry. Let's go kill Toriel now."

Harley picked up his pan, and opened the door with a smile. "After you, madam."


	9. Skelefools

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others." Toriel declared, facing the door. "There is only one solution to this." She slowly turned on heel, and, igniting her hands with fire, shouted, "Prove yourself! Prove to me that you are worthy!"

She threw the fire at them, but they easily dodged it, as they now expected it. They charged her, except this time with a plan. Harley threw his pan like a tomahawk, striking Toriel in the head. She stumbled back, and Chara caught the pan. As Harley drew the knife that Chara had given him, Chara struck Toriel directly on the kneecap with such force that Harley could hear it shatter. He then ran forward and, with a decisive slash of the knife, tore open Toriel's chest.

She stumbled back, crying in pain. "Y... you... really hate me that much!?" She asked. "Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you... But them!"

"Shut up!" Harley yelled, and rammed the knife into her head. She gasped, the whites of her eyes showing, and then she collapsed.

Harley ejected his soul.

LV 5.

"Finally." He said in satisfaction.

Harley walked to the door, kicking through the dust that was Toriel. Chara jogged up to catch up with me.

"Here." she said, handing him his frying pan.

"Thanks." Harley told her. "Y'know… you handle yourself pretty damn well for someone who has been dead for a hundred years."

Chara smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

Chara and Harley walked through the door and ended up in another small room, where Flowey sat.

Harley readied his pan, but he said. "Re-lax. You're not really human, are you? No. You're empty inside. Just like me. In fact…" He gazed eagerly at Chara. "You're Chara, right? We're still inseparable, after all these years."

"How does he know this?" Harley asked, amazed.

"Asriel?" Chara whispered.

"Who?"

"Listen. I have a plan to become all powerful." Flowey told Chara, ignoring Harley. "Even more powerful than you and your stolen soul. Let's destroy everything in this wretched world. Everyone, everything in these worthless memories" He grinned evilly, displaying his monstrous face. "Let's turn 'em all to dust. Hey, that's a wonderful idea!" He sank into the ground.

"That is one odd flower. And you-" Harley pointed the pan at Chara. "you will have to explain this to me when we have the time. Let's go."

Without waiting for Chara, he walked to the purple door, and pushed it open, only to see the unexpected…

Snow

In a fucking cave.

"How does this make any fucking sense?" Harley questioned in disbelief.

"Its magic and science." Chara explained. "I'm not sure how it works. But I know it monitors the Underground's climates."

"Weird." he commented. Looking around, Harley saw we were in some sort of woods. "Glad we favor sweaters."

"Yeah."

They walked forwards, heading through the woods. It was… eerily quiet, as if the woods themselves knew of the horrors that had been committed, and were now grieving for the lost queen.

"Too quiet..." Chara muttered, looking around nervously as they passed over a large branch.

"Yeah." Harley agreed. Suddenly, they heard a loud  _snap_  and spun around, seeing that the branch had been broken cleanly in half.

"That's…not good." Harley commented, readying his frying pan.

"Let's run to that bridge," Chara told him, pointing.

"Fine." Chara and Harley sprinted to the bridge. Chara was on it, beginning to cross, when Harley felt a presence behind him.

"hey. don't you know it's polite to shake the hand of a person when you greet them?"

Harley spun around, and saw… A skeleton. He was quite short, the top of his head reaching just over Harley's chest. He had an haunting grin on his face, and white pinpricks for eyes. He wore a blue coat over his white t-shirt, had black gym shorts that had white stripes running down the sides, and to complete his look, he was wearing fuzzy pink slippers.

For the briefest of seconds, the skeleton looked surprised, as if Harley wasn't who he was expecting, but he quickly regained his composure.

"didn't cha' hear?" He asked, his hand outstretched. "put 'er there."

Harley shook his hand, and a loud farting noise exploded into the air. He had a whoopie cushion in his hand. He began to laugh, but Harley, thoroughly unamused with the childish joke, stood quiet.

"that's, uh. your cue to laugh. or, uh, to emote at all...?"

Harley glared at him, and Sans sighed. "y'know, even humans laugh at jokes. come with me."

He walked over the bridge, past Chara. Harley walked over to her.

"Hey, Harley."

" _Frisk._ " Harley realized. She was watching Sans, and like Chara after they had died, she seemed quite unsurprised by the events that were unfolding in front of them.  
"i'm sans by the way. sans the skeleton." Sans called.

Out of nowhere, a larger skeleton ran over, about Harley's height, with white armor and short black and blue shorts, with a red scarf tied around his neck.

"SANS!" he shouted. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Ignoring the obvious upcoming banter, Harley began to talk to Frisk quietly. "How do you feel?"

She looked at him. "I feel like ending the creatures that have caused us endless suffering." She whispered back.

"That's a change." Harley said, surprised that Chara had been right.

"Well, I finally remembered what was important." she replied vaguely. "Which begs the question - why are these two alive?"

"Haven't attacked us yet."

"NYEH HEH HEH!" Harley and Frisk heard the large one run off.

"that was my brother, Papyrus." sans said. "well, i'll be straight-forward with you. my brother'd really like to see a human. so, y'know, it'd really help me out... if you two kept pretending to be so." Before Harley could respond, he vanished.

" _Is that what I am doing?"_ Harley questioned. " _Pretending to be human? Does LV make you lose your humanity?"_

"What's with the face, Harley?" Frisk teased. "You uncertain or something?"

Harley shook off his doubts. "Never. Let's kill some fools."

"That's more like it."

Frisk jogged off, but Harley hesitated, gazing at the spot where Sans had vanished - and he could've sworn that he saw a small, grey haired child peeking at him from behind a tree.  
Then, nothing.  
Harley blinked a couple times, before shrugging, and jogging after Frisk.


	10. The Great Papyrus

Harley yawned. "This is borrr-inggg."

He stood beside his sister as she finished saving their progress.

Frisk grinned. "Not a challenge for you?"

"No, they aren't." He whined. "Not since that stupid Jerry fucker."

They had both hit LV 8 after killing the comedian, Snowdrake. In the distance, they could see a long brown bridge that hung over a long chasm, and that idiotic skeleton, Papyrus, standing on the far side.

Harley cracked his knuckles. "When do we get to kill  _him_?" he demanded. "He looks like he would be a good fight."

Frisk shook her head and laughed. "You gotta be kidding me! He's a joke!"

"Look" Harley responded. "Out of all of the monsters we have fought so far, we have only ever seen two skeletons. That has to mean something, right?"

Frisk shrugged. "I guess it could mean they are incredibly rare and strong. Or, it could mean that they were so weak that they died off!"

Harley's shoulders slumped. "I guess you are right. Man, we haven't had a real challenge since that comedian. We got too strong for these weaklings."

Frisk clapped him on the back. "It's just downhill from here, bro. Let's go see the skeletons."

* * *

They walked over to the bridge, and Papyrus began to shout. However, the chasm was large, and there was 'wind' blowing, so…. They couldn't hear him. Harley sighed and began to walk across. He was halfway across when several large, sharp, and deadly objects appeared… alongside a dog. He froze, and the skeleton shouted some more, and frowned, turning his back to them. The trap then vanished, and he ran off, leaving Sans standing there.

Frisk ran over to Harley. "Why didn't he kill you?" she questioned.

Harley shrugged. "No clue."

They walked over to Sans, who just stood there.

"heya." he said as they approached. "so you will be fighting my brother when you leave town. do yourselves a favor 'nd spare him. otherwise…" Sans's eyes disappeared. "you aren't going to have a very good time."

Then he vanished.

Harley laughed out loud. "Did he just threaten us?!" He asked incredulously.

"Dude, he can teleport at will." Frisk replied, "We should, at the very least, keep an eye out for him."

Harley waved a hand at her. "Nah. Against me and you? He doesn't stand a chance."

Frisk shrugged, and they both walked into the town.

* * *

And of course, the town was deserted.

Everyone must've heard of the two of them, because they all had fled town.

Frisk and Harley split up and looted the town, stealing all of the money and food they could find. Harley even found a new weapon, a small shovel that stood up to his knee. It was sharp at the end, so that meant he could stop beating the crap out of everyone with a frying pan.

He would've grabbed a knife, but it seemed like everything sharp was taken out of the houses. Harley was lucky to have found the shovel.

They met on the far edge of town and headed out.

* * *

On the outskirts of town, the wind began to pick up, and they could hear faint shouts. They pushed forwards, and eventually, the shouts were revealed to be Papyrus, who didn't seem to understand that heavy winds muffled sound. Even with him always shouting at the top of his lungs.

"YOU WANT A HUG OF FORGIVENESS?! WOWIE!" He shouted. "LOOKS LIKE MY LESSONS ARE WORKING ALREADY!"

" _Forgiveness?"_ Frisk thought. " _Yeah, right. Chara, want to show this guy what we got?"_

Chara growled. " _Show him our meaning of MERCY"_

Harley saw Frisk lower her head, and walk towards Papyrus, who stretched his arms out for a hug.

"Uhh, Frisk?" Harley called. Before he knew it, Frisk leaped forward, slashing towards Papyrus-

Only for him to block it with a conjured bone-sword and slam the pommel of the conjured weapon into Frisk's head, stunning her. Papyrus drew back a fist, and slammed it into her head, knocking her out, and planted a swift kick to her chest, which knocked her multiple arm-lengths away.

Papyrus clicked his tongue, disappointed. "YOU SEE," he said, "I HAD PLANNED ON COMING HERE TO TEACH YOU THAT KILLING WASN'T THE ONLY WAY. HOWEVER, MY BROTHER FOUGHT AGAINST IT. HE WAS SO PASSIONATE IT ABOUT ME STAYING HOME… SO DETERMINED. I HADN'T SEEN HIM SO WORRIED ABOUT ANYTHING FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME, SO I MADE A COMPROMISE."

He paused, probably waiting for Harley to respond. When he didn't, Papyrus continued speaking.

"I PROMISED HIM THAT I WOULD BE READY FOR AN ATTACK, NO MATTER WHAT. AND EVEN WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE THE SMALL HUMAN WAS GOING TO ACCEPT MY MERCY, I STILL WILL BE READY. AFTER ALL, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND I NEVER BREAK A PROMISE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Harley just continued to gaze a Papyrus indifferently, causing the taller skeleton sigh, and gaze at the floor.

"WELL… I STILL HAVE NO PLANS TO KILL YOU TWO. YOU TWO ARE CHILDREN! YOU DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER! PLEASE, TALL HUMAN, LAY DOWN YOUR SHOVEL AND COME WITH ME. I CAN HELP YOU!"

Harley shook his head. "No, Papyrus." He said, his face displaying no emotion whatsoever. "It's too late for me."

Papyrus shook his head. "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT! EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE!"  
"Papyrus, I don't want a second chance. I chose this path."

Papyrus sighed and conjured a bone shield. "I HOPED YOU WOULD DO THIS THE EASY WAY. I GUESS NOT. WELL, TALL HUMAN, I WILL HELP YOU LEARN TO BE BETTER!"

He launched a volley of razor-sharp bones at Harley, who jumped into the air as they whizzed by underneath. However, when Harley hit the ground, he was greeted by Papyrus's shield to his face, knocking him onto his back. Harley felt the tip of Papyrus's bone sword to his throat.

"WANT TO HEAR SOMETHING COOL?" Papyrus asked. "THIS SWORD ACTUALLY ISN'T CONJURED. UNDYNE GOT IT FROM GERSON, WHO SAID IT WAS FORGED DURING THE GREAT WAR. UNLIKE THE SHIELD, I DIDN'T CONJURE IT FROM THIN AIR. I JUST HAD IT LAUNCHED INTO MY HAND BY USING GRAVITY MAGIC FROM WHERE I HAD IT HIDDEN."

Harley laid there, furiously trying to figure out how to get up without slitting his own throat. However, Papyrus suddenly lifted his shield, looking away from Harley, who heard a loud 'THUD' as something embedded itself deep into the shield. Frisk then tackled Papyrus, but there was something wrong with her. Her eyes were black, soulless pits, and her mouth was twisted into a demonic smile. When she laughed, it was inhumane- as if it had come out of an evil entity.

"Frisk!" Harley shouted without thinking. Frisk glanced over, her face returning to normal, but Papyrus seized her by the hair and threw her off of him. He then lifted his hand, and the floor underneath Frisk glowed blue. A couple heartbeats later, a box of blue bones appeared, caging her in.

"DON'T TOUCH THOSE!" Papyrus warned. "BLUE ATTACKS ONLY HURT YOU IF YOU TOUCH THEM." He faced Harley. "YOUR TURN!"

Harley roared, feeling his Rage boiling.

"Make him lose focus!" Chara- not Frisk- Called out. "It will free me!"

Harley charged Papyrus, swinging his shovel. Papyrus jumped back, and swung his bone sword at Harley, grazing his cheek. Growling, Harley recklessly attacked again, and again, missing each time. Papyrus laughed, and swung at Harley, slashing open a cut into his chest. And when Harley stumbled back, Papyrus flung his shield at Harley's feet, knocking him off balance, and then followed up with a conjured bone to the skull, knocking him onto his back.

"YOU LOSE!" Papyrus shouted cheerfully, beginning to lift his hand.

"Wait!" Harley shouted desperately.

Chara watched in horror as Harley began to speak to Papyrus.

"Maybe you're right." Harley said. "Maybe we need to change."

Chara could feel her anger beginning to rise as Papyrus nodded. "YOU FINALLY REALIZED IT! I KNEW BEATING YOU SENSELESS WOULD HELP! HERE, LET ME GIVE YOU A HAND!" Papyrus slammed the blade of his sword into the ground and outstretched his hand to Harley.

As Harley reached out his hand to Papyrus, he looked over at Chara, and smirked.

Harley grabbed Papyrus's hand, and pulled him forward, jumping and kneeing him in the face. Harley then grasped Papyrus's shoulder and elbow and ripped his arm clean off.

Chara laughed at the expression of horror on Papyrus's face, and slowly stood as her cage fell.

She walked up beside Harley, who had picked up the bone sword, and was laughing, too. "And you said you were prepared for anything." He jeered, and lifted the sword over his head.

"I-I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU!" Papyrus shouted, and Harley swung the sword downwards-

Only for it to be buried into the snow.

He looked up and saw Sans standing a few yards away, an aura of blue magic surrounding Papyrus and his arm.

"did'ya really think i wouldn't be here?" He asked. "wow... you are dumber than you look. well, don't say i didn't warn ya. good luck getting past undyne." And with that, he vanished, taking Papyrus with him.


	11. Waterfall

Frisk laughed maniacally as she gleefully turned Shyren into dust.

Harley observed Frisk from the side as he saw an Aaron attack her, and she spun, kicking him and stabbing him in the chest.

Lately, Harley has grown to notice that Frisk has been acting more and more like Chara. She was cruel and violent, completely the opposite of what she had been.

When he asked Chara about it, Chara told him that it was the increase in LV, it was causing Frisk's hidden trait to resonate alongside Chara's a bit.

She had no explanation for why he only saw the Hate on her Soul. Frisk didn't seem to hate the monsters, not really. To her, she was just… playing a game.

"Hey."  _Chara_

"Hey, Chara." Harley said.

Chara nodded. "Your sister is going so nuts, she wore herself out."

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

"Wanna know what's annoying?" she asked.

"That all monsters are fleeing, except that stupid monster kid?"

"Yeah. Its so fucking aggravating." she complained. "We can't get over LV 10 because of that."

"I wanted to kill the fucking MK, but you wouldn't let me."

"He was useful from time to time."

Harley shook his head. "The ant needs to die, Chara. We kill everyone, remember?"

"He will die soon, Harley."

Harley sighed and looked around. They were in a small room with nothing in it except a patch of bushes and an echo flower on the far side.

"You know who I wanna to kill?" He said to Chara, walking over to the Echo Flower and ripping it from the ground. "Undyne. She seems like she would be a challenge. More than Gerson was. He just sort of accepted his fate, and died."

"Yeah." Chara snorted. "So much for the 'Legendary Hammer of the Underground.' He died like a wimp."

"And you will pay for that death!" Undyne's now-familiar voice rang out. She had been chasing Harley and Frisk all throughout Waterfall, cornering them from time to time. However, Monster Kid continually interrupted their attempts to fight her, and, the one time they would've fought, she destroyed the ground from underneath them, sending Harley and Frisk into the trash dump.

This time, however…

Harley drew his bone sword, the one he had taken from Papyrus. As it exited its sheath, however, a spear flew through the air, knocking it cleanly out of his hands. It clattered to the ground, and another volley of spears flew at Harley, pinning him to the wall by his shirt, palms of his hands, and his belly.

"Gerson was my mentor." Undyne's voice rang from within her helmet. "Papyrus was my friend!"

Chara snorted. "Bah. Who cares?" With every kill, she was getting stronger and stronger, her master plan coming closer and closer to being realized. Frisk had become her violent self again, and she was as gullible as ever, still unaware of Chara's true plan. The only issue was that as her grip on Frisk's soul grew stronger, the more whole Chara became. And since humans can't absorb human souls, she would need to sacrifice Frisk's soul to be able to complete her plan. However, she did have an idea of what to use it for…

As for Harley, she was going to keep trying to seduce him to her side. If she ultimately failed, she will have to kill him, which would probably be the hardest fight she will have to partake in, seeing how he was gaining power alongside her.

It would be a lot easier to have him join her.

Chara felt a searing pain slash across her chest, and saw as a black gauntlet slammed into her chest, sending her flying beside Harley. She had been so lost in thought that she had forgotten about Undyne.

Which wasn't her smartest move. Now she was bleeding to death from the large gash in her chest, and she doubted Undyne would allow her to heal.

That was probably karma.

Or stupidity on Chara's part.

Harley seemed to agree with the latter.  
"And what the fuck were you doing?" He growled, his ever-present rage growing. "You were standing in there in deep thought for so long, both Undyne and I agreed that you were the stupidest psychopath alive!"

Chara struggled to her feet. "Sorry."

"Well, you won't have to worry about the 'alive' part for much longer." Undyne told her as she approached. "So you will just be remembered as the idiotic psychopath that only got anywhere because of her brother, who was obviously the brains of the operation." She raised a spear. "Die."

" _Oh cool!_ "

"Oh no…" Harley muttered. "Anything but him."

" _Oh man_! Undyne is gonna kill the humans, and my friends are helping… her…?" He realized the situation, and the fact that he was standing in between the injured Chara, pinned Harley, and the spear that Undyne was holding was now directed at his face.

"What's going on?!" He asked incredulously.

Undyne sighed, and seized him by the scruff of his neck, dropping Harley to the ground. "You got lucky, humans. Don't expect this to happen again. Next time, I will kill you."

She walked away, dragging Monster Kid with her.

Chara coughed and pulled out some Sea Tea that they had stolen from Gerson. "You see? Useful."

"We wouldn't have needed his help if your foolish self didn't get lost in thought at the worst possible time." Harley growled, helping Chara to her feet. "Next time we see him, he dies."

Chara sighed. "Fine. But don't start bitching at me if we get stuck."

"Please, I rather not need that little asshole's help ever again."

Chara to a hesitant step forwards, and immediately collapsed. "Fuck." She swore.

"You're going to need more than a Sea Tea to recover the blood you lost." Harley told her. "Let's rest. We've been fighting non-stop since Toriel's house."

"True." She agreed, and sat up, Harley seating himself beside her.

"Harley, be honest with me." Chara said. "What are those marks on your back?"

"Which ones?" He asked, pulling out his last NiceCream. "I have a bunch."

"The words." Chara shuddered. Not much bothered her, obviously, but her hatred of humans ran deep, and to see another human treated in a similar fashion… it actually made her feel a sort of kinship with Harley.

"You know how I work. If I answer your question, you have to answer one of mine."

Chara shrugged. "Ok. No problem."

"Get comfortable. It's a story."

Chara leaned her head on Harley's chest. "Ready when you are."

Harley took a deep breath. "Well, about six years ago…"


	12. The Undying

"When we were ten, Frisk was… Let's say, missing." Harley said hesitantly. "I had no idea where she went, and I knew that my parents knew where she was... I fought so much with them, demanding to know where Frisk was. And my dad eventually decided to send me to her."

Chara sat quietly as Harley took a deep breath, and continued. "He decided that I was not worth the trouble."

"What do you mean?" Chara asked, genuinely worried to hear the answer.

"He sent us… He sold us. He sold us on the black market… me as a slave, and Frisk…" Harley swallowed hard, "Frisk was a… a…"

Chara placed her hand on Harley's, and gently squeezed it.

Harley could feel her silently supporting him, and took a deep breath. "Frisk was a slave… the type that they released all of their filthy needs upon."

He sighed. "Of course, we were young. I wasn't aware of what was happening to Frisk, all I saw was her steady decline, getting thinner and quieter. Thinking that it was just her losing hope, I kept encouraging her, telling her that we would escape one day."

Chara felt something land on her forehead, so she lifted her head off of Harley's chest, and saw that he was crying.

"I didn't know it then, but they were using me against Frisk, telling her that they would kill me if she told anyone. I only found out what was happening to her because I walked in on one of them stripping Frisk down… Mind you, this was when we were fourteen, so she had been going through years of it."

"What did you do?" Chara asked.

"What do you think?" Harley answered. "I grabbed the nearest weapon - a whip - and strangled the guy to death. And when the others found out, they tied me up and forced me to watch as they fucking beat and raped my sister. And they then carved a reminder into my back that I wasn't strong enough to stop them."

Harley fell silent, and Chara was left with a feeling of sadness - an emotion she hasn't felt for another person since  _he_  died.

Chara leaned forward, and pulled Harley to her chest, hugging him. "Harley." She whispered. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you." He quietly answered, and pulled back. He then wiped his eyes dry, and stood up, Chara following suit. "Thank you, Chara." He then surprised her by kissing her on the cheek.

Chara blushed, and Harley smiled. "Let's keep moving forward. We need to kill Undyne."

Chara nodded, still confused about what just happened. They began to walk towards the entrance of the next room, when Chara suddenly remembered. "Wait, weren't you going to ask me something?"

"Later." Harley told her. "We have wasted enough time today."

* * *

They quietly walked through the next corridor, which, other than the silent echo flowers, was empty. And when they reached the next room, an empty room with a large bridge extending across the pit, they immediately began to cross.

"Yo!"

It was that freaking monster kid again. Harley had just about had it with him.

"Now he dies." Harley whispered, placing one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Wait." Chara whispered, knowing that this had to be timed right.

Harley growled, but allowed Monster Kid to approach.

"Yo, guys…" He began nervously. "Undyne told me to stay away from you guys… Said that you were the humans that were killing everyone… But that can't be true, right?"

Harley snorted, and he and Chara turned around to face Monster Kid. Harley drew his sword and glared at him.

"Dude, don't look at me like that!" he cried out, taking a step back. "So Undyne was right." Monster Kid whimpered. "You really are… Evil!"

Harley tensed, preparing to leap forward to attack Monster Kid when he fled, but to their surprise, the world went retro as Monster Kid pulled out Chara's and Harley's souls.

"Don't take another step!" Monster Kid cried out. "I'll… I'll fight you!"

Harley shook his head and glanced at Chara. "Free EXP?" she said.

"Might as well." Harley answered.

Harley leaped forwards, taking a mighty swing at him, when something jumped in the way, getting struck instead. Harley landed on his feet, and jumped back in surprise, seeing Undyne.

"Undyne!" Monster Kid shrieked. "You're hurt!"

"Hurt?" She asked, obviously gasping for air. "This… This is nothing. Next time, listen to me when I tell you to leave, okay?"

"Undyne… I…" Monster Kid whimpered.

"I'll take care of this!" She shouted. "Get out of here!"

Monster Kid ran away, and Undyne chuckled. "Heh… it's nothing…" she coughed, and fell to one knee. "No.. s-somehow… with just one hit… I'm already… Already… D… damn it…"

Chara and Harley glanced at each other, dissatisfied, and turned away.

"Papyrus… Alphys… ASGORE!… Just like that… I… I've failed you…"

Chara and Harley began to walk away, disgusted that Undyne went down so easily. However, they had only taken a few steps before-

"No…"

They spun around and were greeted by the shocking sight of Undyne's partially destroyed body. She looked as if she was turning into dust, but her body wouldn't completely disintegrate.

"My body…" Undyne's voiced gasped. "It feels like it's splitting apart… Like any instant… I'll scatter into a million pieces…"

"So do it!" Harley angrily shouted.

"But…"

"Deep, deep in my soul…"

"There is a burning feeling I can't describe… a burning feeling that won't let me die!"

The blurred figure came together a bit, allowing them to see Undyne's mouth moving. She looked up at them.

"This isn't just about monsters anymore, is it?" the ruined Undyne asked. "If you get past me, you'll… you will destroy them all, won't you? Monsters… Humans… Everyone! Everyone's hopes… everyone's dreams!"

Harley shook his head. " _She sounds straight out of a damned anime._ " He thought.

Undyne continued. "But I won't let you do that!" she cried. "Right now, everyone in the world… I can feel their hearts beating as one! And we all have one goal. To defeat  _you_!"

She glared at Harley and Chara. "Humans… No, whatever you are, for the sake of the whole world, I,  _Undyne_ , will  _strike you down_!"

There was an enormous flash of blinding white light, forcing Harley and Chara to cover their eyes and look away. When they looked back, Undyne stood there, her armor jet-black with a red heart in the center. In her hand she held a large spear, and her eyes… one was black, with a white pupil, but the other was completely empty, with a bright light, in the shape of a spear, emitting from it.

"Holy shit…" Harley muttered.

Chara smirked. "That's more like it."

Undyne let loose a broad grin and stood battle-ready. She watched as Harley drew his sword, and Chara pulled two knives off of her belt.

"You're going to have to try a little bit harder than  _that_."


	13. The Death of the Heroine

Chara flew backward, landing heavily on the edge of the bridge.

Harley took a punch to the stomach and slid backward, winded.

"God damn." Chara shouted, and ran forwards again, only to be impaled by Undyne's spear.

Harley ran forward, shouting in rage, but Undyne summoned a volley of spears, impaling him in the back, ending his life in an instant.

* * *

Chara's knife shattered on Undyne's spear. She dropped it and swung at Undyne with the other blade, missing her by mere inches. Harley swung his sword at Undyne, but she leaped back, impaling them both with her spear in quick succession.

* * *

Undyne seized Harley's wrist, the one holding his sword, and twisted it back with a sharp jerk, breaking his wrist. She grabbed his sword and lopped his head off.

Chara attacked viciously, but didn't stand a chance against Undyne, who was dual-wielding her spear and Harley's sword. She was quickly torn in half.

* * *

Undyne leaped back, summoning a volley of spears in an attempt to catch her breath.

Harley and Chara quickly dodged her attack and kept advancing, and were actually able to drive her back a couple steps.

Chara leaped at Undyne's right, who blocked her with her weapon. Harley swung his sword, aiming for her head, and was mere inches away when Undyne deflected at the last second with a conjured spear. She shoved the two of them off her, and threw the spear in her right hand at Harley, which struck him square in his chest. She then shot forward, and impaled Chara on the spear in her left hand, and dropped both Chara and the spear off the edge of the bridge.

* * *

Harley and Chara watched as Undyne fell to one knee, beginning to turn to dust.

"Where's Frisk?" Harley asked, annoyed. "This entire time that we have been fighting, I haven't once seen her."

"She's scared." Chara spat. "Too terrified to face her own death."

Harley growled. "Fuck her."

Undyne began to glow, and in a flash, transformed.

"You're going to have to try a little bit harder than  _that_."

Harley charged forward, Chara right on his heels. Undyne raced forward to greet them, swinging her spear. At the last second, Chara spun around, sensing an attack, and, at unbelievable speeds, began deflecting the volley of spears with her knives.

Harley engaged Undyne, swinging his sword to meet her spear. She parried his every move - left, right, a slash down from the top, stabs - nothing he did managed to break through her defenses.

Undyne attacked back viciously. Harley fell on the defensive, giving ground to her as she began to move faster and faster. She slammed the butt of her spear into his head, stunning him, and moved to impale him in the stomach.

Luckily for Harley, Chara leaped at Undyne, slamming into her side, knocking her off balance. She then slammed both knives into Undyne's side, slashing downwards. Undyne shouted in pain, and attacked Chara.

Harley regained his footing and ran forwards to join the fight. Together, he and Chara began to push Undyne back, step by step.

Undyne jabbed at Chara, nicking her shoulder. Harley swung his sword, which Undyne caught on her wrist, denting her armor.

"Chara!" Harley shouted, and she glanced at him, seeing that he had one hand free and was motioning for a knife. She tossed it to him, which he caught and tucked it into his belt.

Undyne leaped back and summoned a volley of spears in an attempt to catch her breath.

Harley and Chara jumped back and regrouped. Now there was a pretty sizeable gap in between Undyne, Harley and Chara.

Undyne gazed at them. "Why are you doing this?" She asked. "Is this a form of revenge? Did someone wrong you so badly that you feel the need to unleash destruction upon the world?"

"Or do you think this is fun? Are you so sick and twisted that you need others to suffer to feel good?"

Harley stepped forward and impaled the bridge with his sword. "You guys attacked first. All of you monsters, you always attack first."  
"In the ruins, yes." Undyne admitted. "But that's because the last human to come through was a psychopath. Like you two, but weaker. The difference is that the previous human never made it past the forest. He was unlucky enough to be there on the day I was checking up on the Snowdin sentries. And after the ruins… Have either of you noticed that you leave a trail?"

Harley shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?"

"Why are you talking to her?" Chara hissed.

"We recover faster than monsters. Eat, now."

"You think we don't notice it? The brave ones are attacking you because they see psychos that need to be stopped. The rest flee."

"If they attack, they die." Harley responded coldly.

Undyne shook her head. "This is your final chance, human. I normally don't give out chances, but for some reason, I'm getting this feeling. A feeling that you are this way because of your past. You don't need to kill. The monsters will get the point, even if you have to rough a couple of them up. You should be able to control your strength. Hell, I will even escort you to Asgore myself."

"What would you know about my past, Undyne?" Harley asked bitterly. "What would you know of suffering? Your biggest pain is that you can't see the fucking  _sun_  from here! I have endured pain like no one should ever have to, and yet you act like you  _know_. As if your suffering is  _anything_  compared to mine!"  
"So that's your excuse?" Undyne shouted. "You slaughter a race because you can't deal with the ghosts of your past? You believe that all of these innocents have to suffer, because you have?!"

"No! I fight because I must! I fight because you monsters attack us, and my sister is my  _only_ priority!"

Undyne's grip tightened on her spear. "I feel sorry for you humans. You can't beat me, your reason for killing is misguided." She sighed. "Last chance, Harley."

Harley sighed. "Sorry, Undyne. But I won't surrender. If I let us be brought to the capital, we'll just have to kill Asgore when he tries to kill us."

Undyne frowned. "Well, I tried." She conjured another spear, and held them at her sides, determination flashing in her eyes. "I am Undyne the Undying, the True Heroine of the Underground. You will  _never_ get past me!"

Harley lifted his sword and Chara stepped forward, holding her knives.

" _Wait, what?_ " Harley thought. He could feel the knife she tossed him at his side, and yet she had two in her hands.

She noticed his expression.

"Harley, there is something I just realized. As our LV goes up-" they both ducked as a spear flew over their heads. "The trait in humans that was buried a long time ago by the magic users, it becomes unlocked. Which makes sense, since the strongest humans were mages, they must've had high LV's too."

"So we can do magic?"

"Yes. I figured out one attack while you were talking. You are going to have to later."

"Okay." They both began to walk towards Undyne, who was waiting for them. They slowly broke into a run, and then a full on sprint, with Undyne charging forwards to meet them.

Sparks flew as Undyne's spears met Harley's swords and Chara's knives. They struck again and again, with Undyne landing blows on the both of them, and them landing hits on her.

Chara began to notice that Undyne's features were beginning to sag as if she was tired, but she wasn't slowing down in the least. She was actually attacking with increased vigor, moving faster and faster.

Harley, however, noticed something odd when Chara was fighting. Occasionally, when blocking an especially strong attack, her eyes and mouth would turn into demonic pits, with strange black fluid leaking out of them. It was even beginning to mix with the blood and bits of flesh on the bridge. She would even flicker into her actual body, the one she wanted to regain, from time to time, something that made Undyne's eyebrows crease.

He didn't care if Chara was part demon. She was the one standing by his side, unlike his sister. And even more so, he was beginning to feel things - weird things. He was starting to not care if that was his sister's form. He was beginning to see it more and more as Chara's body, not Frisk's.

He deflected a blow from Undyne, and kicked out full force, landing a solid blow on her chest. She was knocked backwards, but flipped mid-air and landed on solid ground.

Chara grinned, and threw her knives at Undyne, both of which were deflected. "Cover me!" Chara shouted, and Harley attacked Undyne again.

That's when he noticed her melting.

Noticed that she was now slowing, just a little bit. And he used that to his advantage.

He grasped his sword with both hands and swung it as fast as he could, and she blocked it. However, at the last second, he took his left hand off the sword, drew the knife, and pushed forward, slamming the knife hilt-deep into her chest.

Harley stepped back, and Undyne fell to her knees.

"Damn it… so even that power wasn't enough?"

A tear slid down her face.

"Heh… Hehehehe…"  
"What are you laughing at?" Harley demanded.

"If you think I'm going to give up hope…" She gasped. "You're wrong… Cause I got my friends behind me…" Undyne took a deep, shuddering breath of air, and continued. "Alphys told me she would watch me fight you… she would... evacuate everyone. By now she's called Asgore and told him to absorb the six human souls…"

Undyne laughed, and, with a large smile, she stood up. "And with that power… This world will live on!"

She began to melt even more, her features becoming less definable, but she still had that damned smile.

Chara stepped forward. "Die!" She exclaimed, and summoned six knives, glowing red, above her head. Undyne began to laugh and watched as the knives struck her, killing her.

"Well." Chara remarked, looking up at Harley. "They do say that true heroes die with a smile."

Harley gazed down at Chara, taking in her features. Her eyes were darker red. Her skin was beginning to lighten, and even her bust was a bit larger. Frisk's form was beginning to look like Chara's, and it probably was because Frisk was being so lazy.

And at this point, Harley didn't care. It actually made what he was about to do a lot easier.

"Uh… Harley? You okay?" Chara asked. "You're kind of just staring a-"

She was cut off by Harley leaning forward and kissing her.

After a couple of seconds, he pulled back.

"So…" Chara began. "What happened to the whole 'sister body' thing?"

"It went out the window." He responded. "Besides… You're beginning to look more like yourself, and less like Frisk."

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"No. I'm guessing it because of the amount of time you're spending in control, since she's so lazy. It's her fault." Harley wrapped his arms around Chara's waist and pulled her against him. "Besides, since when do you care?"

Chara kissed him. "Never." She said against his lips.

They began to make out, with Harley beginning to push her back until she was against the wall. He moved his attention to her ear and began to nibble on it.

" _Oh, I hope he joins me in the end."_ Chara thought. " _I'd hate to lose this."_  she gasped as he moved down to her neck.

"How did you get so good at this? She asked.

"While the males took advantage of Frisk, what do you think was being done to me?" Harley responded, his voice muffled as he kissed his way down to her collarbone. He lightly nibbled on the flesh in a torn area just above her left breast. "Besides," he said as she groaned. "If you think this is good, baby you haven't seen nothing yet."


	14. Judgement

"Harley…" Chara groaned. "Not the time…"

Harley stopped and looked up at her.

"Don't get me wrong…" Chara licked her lips. "I want this. I want you. But right now, we are both injured, and likely to hurt ourselves. Let's wait for a little while… Okay?"

Harley nodded slowly. "Alright. Let's pump ourselves full of adrenaline again, yeah?"

Chara grinned. "Yeah, that's the spirit."

* * *

Hotland, the next area of the Underground, was a breeze. They quickly tore apart every survivor and members of the Royal Guard that were left.

Then they reached the Core, which was empty. All monsters that were left had disappeared.

The robot, Mettaton, awaited them at the end. He transformed into Mettaton Neo, but even he went down in one casual strike.

Turns out Chara's magic shattered his defenses like nothing.

Speaking of magic, Harley was unable to use any, despite his best efforts. Chara, on the other hand, was just getting better and better.

Chara and Harley had hit LV 19 and bore no sign of slowing down. They were on the verge of becoming indestructible.

And then they reached it. New Home.

They trekked through it in silence, interrupted by Flowey occasionally monologuing, telling them the story of how he and Chara died. Harley, deeming it as unimportant, ignored every word he said.

"Stop making that face!" Flowey cried. Chara grinned evilly as she took a step towards Flowey. "Leave me alone!" He disappeared into the ground.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Harley asked her. "He's fucking annoying."

Chara shrugged. "I wasn't entertained enough."

They reached the door to the final hallways, and saw…

Papyrus.

"I WOULD SPEAK TO THE SMALLER HUMAN." Papyrus told Harley. He pointed at the door behind him. "YOU ARE TO BE JUDGED BY MY BROTHER."

"And if we say no?" Harley asked, drawing his sword.

Papyrus shrugged and gestured at the sword. "YOU ALREADY BEAT ME ONCE. I HAD TO REATTACH MY ARM. DO YOU REALLY NEED TO DO IT AGAIN?"

Harley thought about it. "I haven't fought Sans yet, and it'd make things quicker. Whatever." Harley began walking into the Judgement Hall. "Make quick work of him, Chara."

"Oh, I will." she replied, grinning.

"SMALL HUMAN-"

"Chara. My name is Chara."

"VERY WELL, CHARA. YOU NEED NOT TO FOLLOW YOUR BROTHER'S FOOTSTEPS. I SAW YOU BEGIN TO SURRENDER, BACK IN SNOWDIN, BUT HE STOPPED YOU! HE MADE YOU ATTACK ME!"

Chara doubled over in peals of laughter. "Made me?" She choked out between laughs. "Oh poor, poor Papyrus. You really think he makes me do this?" She took a step towards Papyrus, who began to fidget and shift. "I chose to be this, and I enjoy it thoroughly."

"Y-YOU ARE MISTAKEN!" Papyrus shouted. "YOU ARE GOING DOWN THE WRONG PATH… MY BROTHER WILL KILL YOURS, BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO DIE! PLEASE, SURRENDER!"

Chara laughed. "Never, Papyrus. You see, you have this backwards. He doesn't make me do this, we trick  _him_ into doing this."

"W-WE? TRICK HIM? HOW?"

Chara waved her hand. "It's of no importance." She could feel Frisk stirring in the back of her mind, and knew that this needed to be over, and quick.

"THEN YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE!" They heard a blast echo from the Judgement Hall.

Papyrus conjured a bone with a razor-sharp edge, and a shield for his left hand.

"Finally." Chara declared. She gathered her energy, and ran at Papyrus.

Papyrus deflected both of her attacks easily, and kicked her in the chest, spinning to deflect the knife volley she had summoned.

Chara leaped over his bone volley and smiled as a knife embedded itself in Papyrus's shoulder.

Papyrus shouted and activated his gravity magic, slamming Chara into the floor.

"THAT HURT." He pouted.

"That's the point!" She shouted angrily, struggling against his magic. "I'm trying to kill you, y'know!"

"I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU, HUMAN. BUT YOU REFUSE. SO YOU KNOW WHAT?" He grinned. "I MIGHT DIE, BUT I REFUSE TO GIVE UP. YOU NEED TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON IN HUMILITY, HUMAN. AND IN THE PROCESS…" His right eye flashed orange and blue - Bravery and Integrity - and three large skulls appeared behind him.

"I'M GOING TO HAVE A GREAT TIME!"

Chara grinned. "Groovy."

* * *

Harley walked into the hallway, and was utterly shocked on how… beautiful the hallway was. The browns and gold of the walls and and floor were illuminated by the lights shining brightly through the giant windows, windows which had the same symbol as Toriel did on her gown emblazoned on them.  
He hadn't really paid much attention to the scenery on his journey through the Underground, being more concerned with the fighting for survival, but the sheer stark difference from how gray and dull the previous rooms were, this one just stood out like a sore thumb.

Harley was so busy gazing around that he didn't notice the small figure standing in the middle of the hallway; Sans was waiting for him, his eyes never leaving Harley's form.

He quickly strode over and stood in front of Sans.

Sans.

"so, kid…" Sans began. "this place is known as Judgment Hall, the last hallway before the king. I am here as your judge."

Harley calmly drew his sword. "We both already know what your judgement is going to be. Let's get on with it."

"i got a question first, kid."

"What do you want, Sans?"

"do you think that even the worst person can change? that everyone could be a good person, if they just try?"

Harley quietly thought about it. "Yeah, I do."  
"so why, kid? why did you kill everyone in your path? it can't be that you're lazy, it is easier to lay there and die than it is to fight back, and i would actually let you by if all you did was fight those that attacked you. but you kill everything and everyone."

"Because they attacked us! And I swore to defend my sister at all costs!"

Sans shook his head in disgust. "maybe that's how it started, but it's sad that you don't realize that's not the reason anymore. looks like you'll need some help with that."

Sans pulled out Harley's soul, and the world turned retro.

"it's a beautiful day outside…"

"flowers are blooming, birds are singing"

Sans stared directly into Harley's eyes. "on days like these, kids like you…"

Sans's pupils vanished, and Harley's stomach dropped.

**" _SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL_ "**

"Only after you, you son of a bitch!" Harley yelled, and charged at Sans, leaping over the wave of conjured bones, immediately dodging a blast of energy that was fired from a giant skull.

Another wave of bones shot towards Harley, and he spun around it, only for a bone to shoot out of the wall, and impale Harley's arm.

Harley shouted in pain and fell to his knees, an image flashing past his eyes _-_ himself and Chara, running at him, the room burning, a frying pan flying towards him.

Harley gasped and refocused on the world around him. With a yelp, he rolled to the side as another blast of energy demolished the ground he was standing on.

"Wh-what was that!" Harley yelled at Sans.

Sans chuckled. "karma, bitch... i have a unique ability, and to put it simply - the more LV you have, the more it hurts to get attacked by me. oh, and as an added bonus, you get to see the final moments of one of your victims, you filthy genocider."

" _That must've been Toriel."_  Harley thought, a strange lump in his throat. " _She was trying to shelter us… Why did we kill her?"_

"kid, you're gonna to feel all of it. all of the pain and suffering you have dealt upon us. your sins are weighing you down, and i am here to make sure you feel it. it would be a lot easier for the both of us if you just, i dunno, surrendered."

Harley shook his head and struggled to his feet, picking up his sword. "I've made my choice, Sans. There's only one way this is gonna end."

Sans shook his head, "it's your funeral." His left eye began flashing cyan and yellow - Patience and Justice - as Sans began to float into the air, a circle of bones spinning around him, and as two more of his skull cannons, one on each side, appeared behind him.

"it's time to die, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A straight-out lemon isn't appropriate for the story... yet?


	15. The Brother's End

Chara grunted and stumbled back, dodging another wave of bones from Papyrus.

"I HAVE AMAZING STAMINA!" He cried. "I WON'T HAVE TO KILL YOU, I JUST HAVE TO TIRE YOU OUT!"

Chara growled and summoned a volley of knives, launching them at Papyrus, who simply blocked them all with his shield. Charging forward, she swiped at him with her knives, and he blocked them both with his sword, and seized her by the throat, tossing her onto her back. As she landed, she immediately rolled to the side and sprung to her feet, and it was a good thing too. A cage of blue bones sprung out of the ground where she had been just a second ago.

"I GUESS IT WAS TOO MUCH TO HOPE THAT YOU WOULD FALL FOR THAT TWICE." Papyrus commented, gazing at his trap. It sank back into the ground, and he shifted his eye sockets to her.

"You are going to die here, Papyrus." Chara sneered. "You don't have what it takes to kill me, and that will be the end of you!" She rocketed forward, summoning a wave of blades that circled around her as she attacked him. He threw his shield at her and summoned a bone in that hand, meeting her head on. Dodging the shield, she swung at his hip, which he blocked. Catching her wrists, he slammed his head into hers, attempting to stun her. Instead, she grinned and jumped forwards, slamming into him, dropping them both to the floor. He released her to break his fall, and when he did, she swiped at his left arm, shattering his humerus.

Papyrus howled in pain, and hit her. And he hit her hard. She felt multiple ribs shatter on impact, and she was knocked a few yards back, landing on her ass.

When she looked up, she saw Papyrus standing, holding the stump of his arm as orange tears leaked out of his eye sockets.

"W-WHY?" He asked incredulously. "I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU! I AM TRYING TO SHOW YOU I BELIEVE IN YOU! AND YET… YOU INJURED ME! WHY?"  
Chara smiled. "I told you. I am trying to kill you. Nothing has made me this way, I just enjoy killing." She could feel Frisk waking up, and pressed on. "It's like I said. The reason why Harley is doing this is because of us, to protect his 'sister.'. You are talking to the wrong gal."

"BUT… NO! I SAW HIM IN SNOWDIN CALLING YOUR NAME!"  
Chara took a step forward and laughed once more. "That was because I moved forward without talking to him. He thought I was accepting your ridiculous mercy. As if!"

"BUT-"

" _Hurry up, Chara."_

"Shut up." She snarled, speaking to Frisk and Papyrus. "I'm done with the chatter. I'm going to kill you!"

As she charged him, Papyrus lifted his hand, eye flashing. Chara crashed to the floor as gravity began to increase on her.

"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE YOU ARE LOST." Papyrus told her. "BUT IF YOU DIE AS I TRY TO HELP YOU… IT'S YOUR FAULT."

He summoned one of his blasters and aimed it at Chara, who was struggling to stand. He clenched his hand into a fist, and it fired.

* * *

Harley grunted as more images flashed in his mind.

The bridge.

Chara's knife volley.

"who this time, kid?" Sans asked. He stood in front of Harley, watching him as he struggled to stand.

"Undyne." Harley admitted. "We killed her, even after she was trying to reason with us, and show us mercy… I don't know why."

"why she gave you mercy?"

"No, why we killed her!"

"because you're a heartless creature who dragged his sister down to hell with him." Harley paused. "Wait, you think I started this?"

Sans pointed his blasters at Harley and fired, causing Harley to leap backwards, dodging the beams of energy. A wave of razor sharp bones rose from the ground, making Harley leap into the air, throwing his sword hilt-deep into the wall, and grabbing onto it, hanging for dear life.

"well, yeah." Sans replied, watching Harley in amusement. "you're the one that's fighting."

The bones vanished, and Harley ripped his sword out of the wall, and he fell to the floor, landing on his feet.

"I'm always fighting 'cause I'm protecting my sister's body!" Harley protested. He tensed, preparing to dodge to the side since Sans had summoned another blaster, but Sans lowered his arm, the blaster hum of energy fading.

"that's an odd way to phrase that, kid." Sans said, curiosity edging his voice. "whaddya mean, your sister's body?"

"Well…" Harley hesitated. "The person I fight alongside is a ghost, possessing my sister's body. Frisk is too terrified of y'all, so Chara helps me protect her."

"w-wait." Sans stammered, his eyes going dark ."did you say chara?!"

" about it?." Harley replied.

"s-so wait." Sans stammered. "t-that means… that this is the same timeline? and you manifested… as her brother?"

"What the hell are you saying?"

"that explains it. why i still remember it all. i should've forgotten it all, like usual, but i can remember it all… because of you."

"You know what? I don't care." Harley answered angrily. "I am going to kill you!"

Harley's blade began to glow dark red

Sans glanced down at it. "there's your magic." Sans commented. "rage, huh? alright." His blasters began to hum with energy again. "kid, listen! frisk isn't actually your-"

Harley's face scrunched into a snarl. "Die!" He shouted, and swung his blade towards Sans. A curved blast of energy sped towards Sans. His eye sockets widened in shock and he teleported. The energy slammed into the wall, punching a large hole in the wall behind him.

Sans reappeared behind Harley, blasters fully charged. He fired, and Harley, feeling his magic coursing through him and once again channeling into his blade, lifted his weapon and slashed downwards, cutting right through the energy beam.

"heh." Sans chuckled. "you learn quick. not many figure out how to deflect my attacks." He sighed. "i guess it is about time i stopped holding back too, right?"

Yet again, his eye flashed, and a huge torrent of bones flew at Harley, with his blasters firing over and over again. Harley bobbed and weaved, deflecting what he could, but he still was hit by the never-ending volley of bones. And for every attack that met its mark, more images flashed past Harley's mind.

Sans sat there and chuckled. The real battle had begun.

* * *

Chara jumped to the side, dodging yet another strike from Papyrus. He launched a volley of bones at her feet, and when she jumped in the air, he fired his own blaster, hitting her dead on. She flew back a dozen yards, landing hard on her back, hearing multiple cracks upon impact.

Papyrus frowned. "SANS SAID THAT USUALLY VAPORIZES ANYTHING IT HITS." he commented, walking over to her. 'OH WELL. LOOKS LIKE I HAVE TO FINISH THIS."

Papyrus lifted his hand, activating his gravity magic. Chara floated in the air, and he seized her throat, hurling her into the wall beside him. She smashed into it, and he summoned four razor-sharp femurs, which he threw into her biceps and shoulders, pinning her to the wall.

Chara yelled in agony as the femurs impaled her. She began to struggle, but cried out as pains flared up in her hip and shoulder. It seems that the cracks she heard were her hipbone cracking and her left shoulder blade shattering. She glared hatefully as Papyrus approached her, holding his sword overhead, preparing to swing downwards.

He shook his head regretfully. "THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I BEAT YOU, CHARA. YOU SHOULD HAVE ACCEPTED MY MERCY WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE." He held the weapon but hesitated.

"Well?" Chara demanded. "Do it! Come on! I took your arm!"

Papyrus glanced down at his empty socket, and back up at Chara, but still, he hesitated.

"Come on!" She shouted. "I am the reason that your race is all but extinct! I'm the reason that Undyne is dead! That Mettaton was killed! The reason that Harley is going to kill your brother!"

" _Chara, what the hell are you doing?!"_ Frisk began to try to seize control from Chara.

Papyrus yelled, and swung the sword. Chara closed her eyes, preparing for impact, as she fought Frisk back, when she heard a loud thunk.

She opened her eyes and saw the blade had been embedded in the ground.

"Seriously?" She asked him.

"I CAN'T DO IT." he admitted. "I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL."

Chara laughed, and, with tremendous effort, summoned a blade in her right hand, pulling it out of the wall, and stabbing Papyrus in the chest.

He stared at her in shock, and the bones trapping her against the wall and his sword disappeared.

Chara collapsed to the floor, and Papyrus gazed down at her.

"I… I…" he stammered. "I SHOULDN'T HAVE… GRANTED MERCY."

"No." Chara agreed, the edges of her vision going black. "No, you shouldn't have."

Papyrus dissolved, turning into dust, and Chara tipped back, blacking out.

* * *

Sans's onslaught was brutal.

But Harley didn't relent.

The cyan from Sans's blasters constantly collided with the dark red energy attacks that Harley materialized out of the blade of his sword.

Bone fragments flew into the air as Harley dodged and deflected Sans's attacks, using every trick in his arsenal to stay alive, all while slowly gaining ground on Sans.

And while all of this happened, Sans spoke, his voice somehow carrying over the sounds of combat.

"i used to wonder what I was doing here." Sans commented. "used to wonder what my purpose was. my father was gone, forgotten from all of existence. and there was the human, who would slaughter us all, and RESET, coming back over and over to kill us all. and she never once thought, 'hey, what would happen if i saved them?' the number of times i saw my brother's dust… saw our hero fall… it made it all too easy not to care anymore. why would i? everything would be reset back to the previous day anyways."

"and then the day came along when i heard of a second human, a new human in the ruins, and i hoped that maybe now it would be different… maybe frisk had left, or we had left the timestream and were all going to die in a fiery hellscape. But all that happened is now she had a partner, a poor schmuck who was protecting her. She apparently had a brother now."

Harley paused, and Sans fired a blaster at him. Harley spun out of the way and glared angrily at Sans.

"Whaddya mean?"

"what i mean, kid, is you aren't supposed to be here. frisk's been through this route dozens of times, always falling short at me. she never gets past me. but you…" he sighed. "you're a glitch in the system. think about it. you pop up, and i suddenly could remember all previous timelines, which lead to my plan to save pap. but then you helped her kill undyne faster. you enable her to use magic somehow, and you are fighting me, instead of her."

Harley narrowed his eyes, his dark red eyes shining from beneath his eyebrows ."You're lying."

"i wish i was. it's no mistake you're here. i wanted a chance to fix you, to help you out, but you're too far gone. the best i could've done was give you a hard time, which i did."

"Are you giving up?" Harley asked.

"no… you still have to beat me." Sans's grin widened. "i've accepted the fact that i'm going to lose to you. but…" A ring of the skull blasters surrounded Harley. "i'm going to give it all i've got!"

The mechanical hum grew louder, and Harley prepared to leap upwards. But suddenly, they stopped and clattered hollowly to the floor.

Harley gazed at Sans in shock, and saw him clutching his chest, his perpetual grin more like a grimace. He fell to his knees, and Harley seized the opportunity.

He rocketed forward and plunged his sword into the center of Sans's chest.

Sans didn't gasp in pain.

He simply looked up at Harley, and said

"don't let the monster kill the demon, the way it made her kill papyrus."

And he faded into dust.


	16. Truth Revealed

Harley fell to his knees, his sword clattering to the floor.

" _A glitch in the system?"_ He took a shaky breath. " _This is real life, not some video game… However… I have seen some unbelievable things down here, even being able to SAVE and LOAD my life… and even…"_ Harley casted out his soul, and examined his stats.

" _LV 20…"_ He sat, awestruck. " _We worked so hard to get this far, and yet,I feel… terrible. All these lives I've taken. For what? Protecting someone who might not even be my real sister?"_

Harley rose to his to his feet, lifting his blade. He gazed down at what remained of Sans, just a pile of clothes.

" _What have I done?"_ Harley asked himself. " _Why did I do this?"_

"Young one _."_ A voice boomed out. Harley's gazed slowly rose, and he saw a giant goat monster, with large horns, and in a purple robe, with a hint of his golden armor underneath.

_He looked like…_

" _Toriel."_ Harley realized. " _So this must be…"_

"Hello, Asgore." Harley greeted him.

"You know of me, human?" Asgore asked, and Harley mutely nodded. "Good." Asgore gazed sadly at Harley's feet, at the remains of Sans. "Why, human?" He asked. "Why have you killed so many of us?"

"I don't know." Harley admitted. "I thought I was protecting my sister. But now…"

"What changed your mind?" Asgore rumbled.

Harley pointed at Sans's remains. "He told me…he told me that Frisk, my sister, wasn't what she seemed. That she'd gone and killed all monsters, multiple times, except him, and apparently you. And I wasn't supposed to be here, that I was some kind of… glitch in the system."

"Sans always was intelligent." Asgore replied. "What he lacked in HP and ATK, he made up for in the ways he used his overwhelming magic."

"So what are you saying?" Harley demanded. "That he's right?"

"I have no idea." He replied. "I don't even fully understand what you said… But if Sans was telling you this, especially in the heat of battle, then he was probably telling the truth. And he was rarely wrong."

Harley turned away, slamming the blade of his sword into the ground and leaned on it for support. "So I shouldn't be here… And all the heinous acts I committed… she knew…" Harley came to a realization. "She must've known…Chara...!"

"Wait." Asgore asked hesitantly "Did you just say Chara?"

"Yes." Harley growled. "She-!"

"Oh, hello there." Asgore's voice echoed down the hall. "What type of monster are you?"

An eyebrow raised, Harley turned to face Asgore, when he heard something whistle by overhead. Asgore grunted as a knife embedded itself into his forehead, and faded into dust, an expression of shock frozen onto his face

"You!" Harley shouted, whirling around to face Chara. "You knew!"

Chara smiled. "Yes, I did. How could I not? I have been through this route dozens of times with poor Frisky here. So imagine my surprise when I got to repossess Frisk at the start of this route! And you, Harley, are the most beautiful glitch that I didn't wish for. You fell for my trick  _so_  easily. You just wanted to protect your dear sister, and you would do anything. And the fact that your dark trait is Rage? It made it too easy. All I had to do was rile you up! Make you believe that all monsters were here to kill you!" She doubled over in peals of laughter. "And Undyne knew it! She was trying to save you, and you just killed her!"

"You're a monster." Harley muttered. "A monster!"

"I'm a Demon" Chara corrected. "The demon who comes when you call her name. And you, my dear Harley, have removed my final boundary. The Judge is dead. And now, Harley, it's time to decide. Will you stand by me, or will you die with the rest of them?"

"Why do you still need me?" Harley asked.

"Let's put it this way - I am going to use your sister's SOUL to ERASE this timeline. And I need a new host."

"Why? If everything is gone, why do you need me?"

"Because you are a glitch, and you will help me jump to another timeline… and we will destroy that one, too."  
Harley scowled. "You expect me to allow you to keep using me?"

Chara winced and pressed a hand to her temple. "Yes, because as much as you must hate me, you can't stand hurting your dear sister."

"I would be doing her a favor!" He shouted. "That's it!" He ripped his sword out of the ground, and it began to glow. "I will kill you, and then I will RESET this world!"

"You are a glitch!" Chara sneered. "That will just remove you, too!"

"I will save my sister."

Chara shook her head, wincing again. "You are a fool, Harley. You truly don't understand what's really going on, do you?

"Explain, then!"

Chara simply laughed. "What makes you think you can kill me anyway?"

"I killed Sans, the one monster you couldn't!"

"Well, let's see how well you do against me!"

Harley deflected the volley of knives hurtling at him and spun, launching an energy blast at Chara. She somersaulted over it, landing on her feet, and charged at Harley, who ran forward to meet her.

Harley had thought the battle with Sans was the final battle.

But no.

The  _true_  final battle had just begun.


	17. RESET

The monster sat and watched from the darkness.

The hallway echoed with the sounds of combat.

Not twenty minutes prior, the hall echoed with the crunching of bones ripping through the ground, and the hums of the blasters' energy beams charging and firing.

Now it echoed with the clashing of blades and the explosions from magic making contact, the sounds of rubble flying into walls and the ground.

And the shouts, of course.

Chara and Harley, the duo that killed every single monster in the Underground.

The duo that reached the legendary LV20.

They now fought each other for control of the timeline.

The battle between the Demon and the Glitch continued to rage as fierce as the hottest flame.

The creature sighed. This wasn't going to end well.

* * *

"I gotta say, I am quite impressed with your magic, Harley!" Chara called out, ducking under an energy blast. "To think you struggled forever to use it, all you needed was a real opponent!"

"Shut… up…" Harley growled.

"What was that?" She taunted. "I can't hear you!"

"I said…" Harley shouted as he swung his blade in an arc. " _Shut up_!"

Chara rolled to the side, evading the attack, "You are so easily used, Harley!" she gloated. "All I had to do was anger you every time I needed something killed, and you did it, no questions asked!" She laughed again. "You are, by far, the easiest person I have ever manipulated. All I had to do was say Frisk's name, and boom- you were in a murderous rage, killing anything that threatened your 'sister'. And the best part? You aren't even re-"

Harley leaped forward and punched her in the gut, cutting her off mid-sentence with a loud  _oof_. He followed up with a slash at her neck, which she ducked under.

However, expecting this, he brought his sword overhead, charging it with energy. He then swung it down, releasing the blast directly onto Chara. There was a loud explosion, and Harley leaped back to avoid the rubble and debris that was flying everywhere.

After a couple moments, the dust settled, and Harley walked over the crater that he had created.

As soon as he reached the edge, a figure jumped out, tackling Harley and knocking him over. He fell to the floor and yelled in pain as a blade slammed into his wrist, slicing all of the nerves connected to his right hand. He seized her by the throat, pulling her off of him attempting to rise to his feet.

"Heh." Chara chuckled, and she kicked his head, knocking him onto his chest. One of her arms were missing, and blood slowly leaked out of a wound on her forehead. "Looks like you rage was so hot, you cauterized the arm you took off. Anyways." She noticed Harley roll over and attempt to stand, so she slammed her knee into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He fell onto his back and she pulled out another knife, impaling Harley's left wrist with it. "It looks like I've won."

Chara stood up and snapped her fingers. The world faded, with Frisk's soul appearing from Chara's chest. It was different this time. Instead of the world going black and white, everything around them was just…gone. The entire room, the destruction from the two fights that had happened here, all had vanished.

"Welcome, to the Void!" Chara declared happily. "This is where I used to reside, back when Frisk was in control. It's where she has been all this time. You might want to get used to it, Harley. It's your new home."

"What are you going to do?"

"I am going to use Frisk's soul to destroy this world, Harley. I am going to erase it all, and it's all thanks to you. I never would have made it past Sans without your help."  
"You know what I don't understand?" Harley said. "How can you do that from here? Like, I know you have power, you're LV20 after all, but how exactly does that allow you to change the timeline?"

"Back to square one, I see? Me explaining shit to you." She sighed. "Well, I  _do_  have all of the time in the world. Think about it. With our power of Determination, we can SAVE and LOAD our lives, we have always been powerful enough to do that. And this? This is the emptiness from the world. In here, you are both powerless and powerful. If you are trapped here, like I was, like Frisk is, and like Gaster, you are powerless. But if you can summon it to you, you can do anything. ERASE, RESET, TRUE RESET… All up to you. You just need enough power. And all it takes is one powerful soul to sacrifice. And I have it. All I have to do is to sacrifice Frisk's Soul, ERASE this world, and possess you. And guess what? Since you were present when I summoned the Void, you will retain all of the power."

Harley struggled to his feet, yanking out Chara's knives. Blood began to pour out from his wrists.

"If you kill yourself, Harley, I will just bring you back." She chuckled. "Face it. You have lost."

"No, I haven't, Chara. Because you messed up." Harley cast out his soul and presented the options before him. "You forgot who brought you here. Who killed the Judge!"

"No…' Chara's face flushed, realizing her mistake. "Stop!"

She lunged at Harley, but he slammed his elbow into her chest, and kicked her, knocking her backwards. "You're right. I am not real. I'm a Glitch in this system of a world. An anomaly in the cruel game you're playing with these monsters' lives. But you know what? To me, this is real. I love my sister. And I've screwed up so badly…" Harley's vision dimmed, he was losing too much blood. "I… I can't prevent you from getting her again. Not forever. But… next time? You'll have to kill the judge yourself!"

"You idiot!" Chara screeched. "You are a Glitch! If you RESET, you're just going to erase yourself forever!"  
Frisk's face swam in front of Harley's eyes. "W-worth it!" he shouted. "You might've played me for so long, but you know what? I now have the last fucking laugh!" Harley slammed his damaged hand down on the TRUE RESET button, and he collapsed, clutching at his chest in pain as he felt his soul crack and shatter.

Chara screamed in rage, and she watched as Frisk's body began to fade. Her voice was lost in the emptiness of the Void.

Soon, all that remained was a body floating amongst the dark red shards of a corrupted soul.

* * *

Chara opened her eyes to the yellow flower bed, still in possession of Frisk's body.

She screamed in anger.

" _I hate you, Harley."_  she thought to herself. " _Now I have to do this all over again."_ She smiled, and walked into the room with Flowey, summoning a knife that she hid behind her back.

When he saw her, he chuckled, clearly not recognizing her.

Chara played his game, allowing herself to be injured, then healed when Toriel arrived.

And the moment Toriel turned her back, she was given a knife to the back of her skull.

LV2

The game begins again.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity, and the creature walked over to the body.

He had just watched an enraged Chara slice her way up to Sans again in her most brutal Genocide Run yet, only to lose to him yet again.

This monster may be trapped here in the Void, but he did not want to see the death of his species again. He had grown tired of it a long time ago, but remained unable to do anything, being powerless to free himself from the Void. But now...

He reached out, the hole in his skeletal hands glowing with magic as he scooped up the soul, and held it close to his chest.

He smiled and closed his eyes, the cracks running above and below them shifting.

"Awaken, child. You aren't finished yet." Gaster spoke, his deep voice rumbling throughout the Void.

His hands blazed with light and magic, shining with the brightest light the Void has seen since he was trapped here. He moved his hands, guiding the fixed, yet corrupted soul into Harley's chest.

A moment passed.

And another.

And another.

And Harley's eyes shot open, his blood red eyes flashing in the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N So the Genocide run has about two or three chapters left to it


	18. Begin Again

Chara cut through the breastplate of Undyne's armor.

Panting, she lowered her blade and watched as Undyne began to melt. She could see Undyne's mouth moving, but all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears.

This was her third Genocide since Harley killed Sans, since he pulled her hopes of fixing this fucked up timeline once and for all.

" _If I ever see him again, I am going to make him regret his actions."_ Chara vowed to herself.

Noticing that Undyne had turned to dust, Chara strode forward, continuing on her warpath.

* * *

Darkness.

Harley stood in the Void, staring off into the darkness, lost in thought.

" _Emptiness."_ He thought to himself. " _This is my life now._ "

Gaster floated out of the shadows and stood in front of Harley.

"Hello, child."

Harley stood in silence, simply watching Gaster, surveying his every move.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Harley. I am W. D. Gaster, former royal scientist, creator of the CORE, and the leading expert on SOULs."

"I've heard your name once." Harley said. "From Chara. She said you were trapped in here."  
Gaster nodded. "Yes, I am trapped here. However, I am not powerless, despite what she may believe. I can do almost anything in here, and I can very briefly appear in physical form out of here."

"Is that how I'm alive?" Harley asked. "You healed me?"

"You could call it that. Technically, I gathered up the shards of your corrupted SOUL that were floating around your body, put them together with magic, and stuck it in your body."

"And how is that not healing?"

"If I healed you, I would have cleaned your filthy SOUL too."

"Ah." Harley sat quietly for a moment. "Wait, don't SOULs vanish a couple seconds after the death of their body?"

"You are correct."

"So why didn't mine-"

"Child, where do you think the SOULs go when you die? Heaven?"

"They come here?"

"Yes." Gaster responded. "The only difference is that a SOUL that enters here after being destroyed out there is irreparable. You, on the other hand, died in the Void. Your SOUL had a chance."

"That makes sense." Harley responded. "Am I really a Glitch?"

Gaster hesitated for a second. "Yes and no. You are actually the only shred of evidence that there is another, unexplainable power."

"What makes you say that?" Harley asked.

"Sans prayed that Frisk wouldn't come back. Prayed for another human."

"And I showed up?"

"Defying all logic, yes. And sure, you seemed like an even worse cure at first, but now, it seems like you have potential."

Harley stood quiet again. "Why?"

"Child, if you are going to ask a question, it better have more substance than just 'Why?'"

Harley scowled. "Why did you revive me?"

"You realized you were tricked, and sacrificed yourself to save the timeline. That was noble. However, you were duped, yet again."

"How?"

"Chara isn't to blame here. She likes to take the credit, but Frisk is the one who first corrupted her, by committing Genocide."

"What?"

"Chara loved monsters while she was alive. She just wants things to be ERASED to stop Frisk."

"If you know all of this, why do you need me?" Harley asked.

Gaster responded with his own question. "Do you want a chance to redeem yourself?"

"Yes."

"Then when Chara eventually succeeds at getting back here, you are going to kill her and Frisk, and then force a True Reset. You will then do your best to save both the monsters and Chara."

"And how will I do that?"

"Easy. Chara is going to be in your mind, and you will be trying to show her back onto the path of MERCY."

"And Frisk?"

"Oh, she will be out there with you."

"Alright." Harley responded. "So now we wait?"

"Yes." Gaster replied, and he sat down.

Harley sat in front of him, and Gaster pulled Harley's sword out of nowhere.

"I am fully aware on how you got this weapon, and I am hoping that this is the last time you need to use it."

Harley nodded and took his sword. He placed it beside him.

"Rest, child. I will awaken you when she is near."

Harley simply nodded again, and not long after, he had fallen asleep.

* * *

Chara cut through Mettaton Neo, and walked away, not even bothering to watch him die.

It had been ten RESETs since Harley abandoned her, and she still could not kill the Judge.

It was freaking ridiculous.

The angry SOUL inside her was growing restless.

" _You betrayed me, Chara!"_ Frisk shouted. " _I granted you control, and you tried to destroy me!"_

" _You know full well that you deserve it!"_ Chara yelled back. " _You killed everyone you saved, and you corrupted your friend and brother!"_

" _He was a Glitch. You knew from the start, and I knew it once my memories were cleared! Besides, you are the one that killed him."_

" _In self defense!"  
_"heya, kid. are you just gonna stand there? or are you gonna fight?"

Chara realized that she had been through this path so many times that she had arrived at Sans when she wasn't even paying attention.

"too busy arguing with frisk?"

Chara nodded absently. "Wait, you know that I'm not her? How?"  
"harley told me." sans said "now, i'm not in the mood to talk. let's just fight."

* * *

Harley awoke to Gaster tapping his shoulder.

"Come, Harley. It is time."

Harley wordlessly rose to his feet and followed Gaster.

They kept walking until they saw an opening in the Void, leading to Asgore's throne room. They watched in silence as Chara entered.

"Good luck." Gaster whispered, and he faded into the shadows.

Harley took a second to collect his thoughts, and then made his move.

"Chara!" Harley shouted, walking over. "Chara stop!"

The figure in the blue and purple shirt froze. "Harley? How the hell are you alive?"

Harley froze. "Wait, you're Frisk."

"Yes, I am. I'm your sister! Please, Chara made me kill Sans, and now she's trying to destroy everything again!"

"I'm not your brother, child." Harley said, even though the words felt as if they were tearing into his heart. "And I know the truth."

Frisk opened her eyes wide. "She's behind you!"

Harley turned around and saw Chara in her true form.

"Hello, Harley." Chara said. "It's been a long time."

"Chara, I'm sorry."

"For what, for betraying me?"

"No, for believing that this was all your fault. For believing that you corrupted Frisk, when in truth it was the other way around."

Chara stood quiet, and a bitter smile crossed her face. "...Gaster told you, I assume?"

Harley nodded.

"Well," Chara continued. "The only way you can end this is by killing the two of us, Harley."

"Just surrender, please."

"No.

"Why, Chara?"

"Because it is too late for me." Chara's smile turned wicked, and she summoned knives made of black energy as the black sludge began to drip out of her eyes. "I thought I would have to forfeit having a SOUL to do what I needed to do. Looks like I am going to have yours!"

"Harley." Frisk begged. "Let's kill her together!"

Harley glared down at Frisk. "This is all your fault. You're going to move aside, and I will handle you later."

Frisk scowled, and shoved Harley aside, summoning a blade of pure red energy. "I guess I'll kill you instead, then." she said quietly.

Harley ripped his sword out of its sheath, gazing back and forth at the women who wanted him dead. "Wait a moment." He realized. "Frisk, you've just confirmed everything I was told."

"And how's that?" she asked, sneering.

"Your magic." Frisk glanced curiously at her conjured sword. "My magic is a darker red, since I'm corrupted by Rage, and Chara's is black, because she's corrupted by hate, the hate  _you_ pushed onto her as you killed the monsters. But your magic is still the red of Determination, which means that no matter the LV you are, you didn't get corrupted. You're doing this because-"

"I'm killing everything because I got bored with saving everyone." Frisk finished. "And I'll be damned if someone takes my ultimate victory away from me!" She swiped her sword in the air, launching three blasts of energy at Harley, just as Chara launched a knife volley at him.

Harley leaped upwards, flipping in the air. He launched a blast of his own at Chara, but was caught off guard as Frisk slammed into him midair, sending them flying off into the Void.

They hit the "ground" and Harley pushed her off, rolling her over and punching her in the face. He seized her throat and lifted her off the ground, pulling off a full three-sixty before slamming her into the ground again. He snatched his sword off the ground and prepared to impale her, but as the sword moved down to her chest, Chara slammed into his side full speed.

"Fuck, Chara!" Harley shouted. "I'm trying to help you!"

"I just need you  _dead_!" She shouted, and pulled out her knives, swinging at him desperately.

"Harley, listen!" Gaster's voice whispered in his ear. "Chara is not the one to worry about! She is a lost SOUL, just kill Frisk and you can place her in your soul!"

Harley struck Chara, slamming his fist into her throat. She stumbled backward, and he jumped, slamming his knee under her chin. He heard a sharp CRACK and she fell back, landing on the floor.

Harley spun around. " _Now for Frisk."_  He strode into the dark, leaving the Demon and hunting for the Monster.

He saw a flash of red, and a split second later, a red blade shot out of the darkness, impaling Harley in the stomach. He grunted in pain, and, without a second thought, swung his sword like a baseball bat, and it made contact, slicing right through Frisk's neck. A moment later, Harley saw Frisk's soul appear, then shatter, the shards floating around in the air.

The blade in Harley's stomach vanished, and Harley fell to his knees, blood beginning to pour out of his belly. He coughed, spitting up blood.

He felt the air around him become chilly, and he was lifted into the air.

Gaster stood there, Chara floating beside him. Wordlessly, he began to use magic to heal Harley as he passed out.

In the silence, Gaster healed Harley, and reset his SOUL, making it clean again. He then took Chara's corrupted state of mind and paired it to Harley instead of Frisk.

He gently shook Harley awake.

"Harley, you need to force a TRUE RESET."

Harley opened his eyes and coughed again. Pulling up the options, he asked, "Any advice for me before I go?"

"Two things. Firstly, Frisk will be with you, and she will remember everything. Secondly, remember, with monsters, there are no opponents, only victims. Monsters are too weak to pose a threat to you."

Harley nodded. "What about Chara?"

"She is corrupted, but she is harmless to everyone except you."

"Isn't that lovely."

"Relax, she can only torment you in your dreams. Remember, you need to convince her that she used to be merciful, and that it isn't too late for her. Hopefully, with every good act you commit, the Hate that consumes her will slowly fade away."

Harley nodded, and lifted his hand, preparing to use the TRUE RESET option.

"Oh, and Harley? Remember, this is your second chance, too. You are a good man. You have proven that to me."

"Tell that to everyone I slaughtered." Harley muttered.

Gaster patted Harley's shoulder. "Good men mean well. They just don't always end up doing well. You were tricked, Harley. Here is your chance to fix it."

Harley nodded. "Thank you, Gaster. For everything."

"Repay me by saving my race, Harley."

"I will." Harley responded. And he meant it. Filled with fresh determination, he slammed his hand on the TRUE RESET button.

Gaster and the Void vanished, and Harley's world went white.


	19. A Pacifist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N And here begins Arc Two, the Neutral Route

Harley opened his eyes.

" _These flowers again…"_ He thought to himself, gazing around at the flowerbed. " _I've returned to the start."_

Frisk stirred beside him and rose to her feet. "What… What did you do…" She groaned. "Chara, why are you silent? Chara? Chara!" she spotted Harley and glared at him. "Where is she, Harley?  _Where_  is she _!"_  Frisk grabbed Harley around his neck and began to shake him. "Where is Chara!" She shouted, spittle flying from her mouth. "Why can't I hear her!"

Harley lunged forwards, punching her in the throat. She stumbled back, winded, and he rose, gasping for air.

"Chara is safe from your insanity, Frisk." He replied, rubbing his throat. "She's with me now."

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked, narrowing her eyes. In response, he tapped the side of his head and smiled.

Frisk shouted in anger, and rushed at Harley, leaping forward. He sidestepped and watched as she tumbled past him.

"Fight me!" She yelled in anger. "Fight me, Harley! Finish what you started!"

"No." Harley responded. "You tricked me once already, making me believe we were related, and then sat back and watched as Chara and I risked our lives, dying over and over again, for your madness!"

"But not this time. Chara is safe with me, and I will do my absolute best to undo the damage you have done, both in this world, and to Chara."

"Not if I RESET you!" Frisk cried out, summoning her option buttons. "You are only here because of Gaster's power! I will just have to RESET, and you will be gone!"

"Frisk-!" Harley cried out, but it was too late. She slammed her hand on the button, and the world vanished.

* * *

"Why are you still here!" Frisk cried out. Harley opened his eyes to see her foot slam into the side of his head. An explosion of white light filled Harley's eyes, and he rolled over, holding his head in pain.

"Motherfucker!" He swore.

He stood up slowly, only to feel a fist slam into his forehead. He fell backwards, and lied there, semi-conscious.

"Give! Me! Chara!" Frisk shouted, accenting each shout with another blow to his head. "Now!"

Harley's eyes snapped open, but they weren't his. Instead of Harley's blood-red eyes, they were dark, soulless pits, filled with Hatred. He smiled, his teeth covered in the same dark, putrid substance.

" **Hello, Frisk."  
** "C-Chara?" Frisk shrieked, stumbling back.

" **You wanted to see me, didn't you? Well, here I am."** she took a moment to examine the body she was in. " **You see, this is why I wanted Harley's body. He is much stronger than your pitiful self. All I need is to strengthen him, and then with his Rage and my Hatred…"** She grinned darkly. " **This world will fade from existence, all thanks to you."**

"You and I destroyed Sans, Chara! We are the strongest team this world has ever seen!"

" **Since when were we a team? Since when did you have any say in this, at all?"** She chuckled. " **Now, enough wasting time. Die, Frisk!"** Chara summoned a black and red energy sword, and raised it above her head, preparing to strike.

"Uhhhh, nope." Frisk summoned her options, and slammed her hand on the RESET right before the blade split her in half.

* * *

"Go away!" Frisk cried out. "You're a Glitch! Why won't you go away!"

Harley had just opened his eyes when he saw her hand slam on the RESET.

* * *

A brief glimpse of Frisk's angry face.

* * *

A shout, and a yellow blur.

* * *

Harley sprung to his feet and jumped at Frisk the moment she opened her eyes. He slammed the palm of his hand into her nose, and she shrieked. She shoved him off, and slammed the RESET.

* * *

A brief sob of anguish.

* * *

RESET.

* * *

RESET

* * *

RESET

* * *

RESET

* * *

Frisk collapsed to the ground, crying. "Why won't you leave!" She cried out. "Why won't you just disappear?"  
"I'm here to stay, Frisk." Harley replied quietly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going save Chara, and the rest of the Underground."

Frisk glared at Harley, her face wet with tears. "Kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you, Frisk." He retorted.

"Kill me!" she shouted out. "Please! End my suffering!"

"No." Harley replied, anger tinting his voice. "I won't taint my SOUL anymore. I have done enough of that for your twisted self. Just because you can't live without being able to solve all of via RESET, it doesn't mean I am the same way!"

"Damn you, Harley!" Frisk pulled out her RESET button once again, and Harley, finally sick of her shit, lunged forward, swinging his own fist towards it.

There was a loud smash, and a huge explosion, followed by a flash of white, and Harley fell to the floor, holding his ears.

When Harley looked up again, he could see Frisk standing in shock, gazing at the many pieces of her RESET button, which Harley had broken.

"How did you..?" She asked gazing at the shards in horror.

Harley, not wanting to take a chance, swiped a shard off the ground and pocketed it. "With  _Determination_. Now you can't RESET anymore. Means that, from now on, people's lives are their own."

With that, Harley turned around and began to walk away. When he reached the door, he glanced back and saw Frisk standing there, unmoving. He shook his head, and kept walking.

He walked through the room Flowey had occupied, and, to his surprise, Flowey wasn't there.

He walked through the room that had begun his Genocide Run, where the Froggits had attacked him and Frisk. To his surprise, they let him pass without an issue, one of them even appearing to nod at him.

He walked through the room where the Whisums had attacked him, and again, no one bothered him.

He went completely undisturbed until he was a room away from Toriel's house.

That's when it happened.

" _Why hello, Harley."_

Chara was awake.


	20. As Hard as Expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N so Harley's dream interactions will be treated entirely as thoughts, even conversation between him and Chara

Harley sat down in bed.

After meeting Toriel, she sat him down in Chara's old room, telling him to rest.

Chara hadn't spoken to him since she had awoken, but he could sense her watching him, and he remembered what Gaster said: "She can only torment you in your dreams…" and, as it was expected, he was not too excited to fall asleep.

But he made a promise to SAVE Chara, and this was likely the first step to doing so.

He sighed.

Might as well as get it over with.

He leaned back in bed and closed his eyes. Surprisingly, sleep came quick.

* * *

Harley stood in Judgement Hall, with Chara standing a yard away from him.

"Hello, Harley." Chara greeted him. "Welcome back."

She sauntered over to him, an unreadable expression on her face. She wrapped her arms around him and stared into his eyes. "Imagine my surprise, Harley. The last thing I remember was being killed by you! And when I came to, not only was I in a different room than I was accustomed to waking in, but I was no longer with Frisk! Instead, I was with  _you_. The one I was trying to possess in the first place! So…" she kissed him, happiness radiating off of her, "I must thank you! You and Gaster cut the amount of work I had to do in half. Now I just need to break you. Which I have to admit, is still going to be a difficult task. You clearly have more willpower than I would like to admit. But…" She grinned. "Everyone has their breaking point. And you even told me some of yours!"

Harley shook his head. "First of all, Chara, I only told you how I got these scars. I didn't tell you anything that would bother me enough to break me. Even though to you my past isn't real, it certainly is to me, and I've been through so much worse than you can even  _begin_  to imagine. And second," he raised his voice, as Chara was trying to interrupt, "I'm not here to even give you that chance. I'm here to help you, Chara."

Chara laughed. "What makes you think I want to be helped?"

"You did. Before we fought. You said 'It's too late for me.' You didn't say that you didn't want to be saved. You just believed that you were stuck in a vicious cycle, doomed to be with Frisk until you erased everything. Well, I'm here to save you, Chara. Even more than I'm here to redeem myself. Gaster told me that I appeared after Sans wished for a new human, one who would fix things and leave them that way. Well, here I am."  
Chara laughed bitterly. "You will never stop her. I am surprised she hasn't RESET already."

"She can't. I destroyed it."

"You… What?"

"I destroyed her RESET button."

Chara gaped at him, shocked. "You… How?"

Harley shrugged. "I don't know. She kept resetting, over and over, insisting I give you back, something I couldn't do, even if I wanted to. And I got sick of it. Eventually, after crying and screaming for me to kill her, she went to RESET again, and I slammed my fist on her button, and… it shattered. Like, I could physically see the pieces on the ground. I even took one, just in case she could repair it."

Chara looked… hopeful, for a brief second, but it passed. "Whatever. I don't care! I'm here to destroy the world!"

"Chara. you can drop the act. I know that this isn't you."

"Yes, it is. It is who I am now!"

"Chara, I won't leave the Underground until you're better! I know that you've been corrupted by all the death and destruction that Frisk forced you through, but I can help you! I can show you a better way!"

Chara snarled, and slammed her fist into Harley's face. "Well, since you aren't going to surrender, I will just begin to break you instead!"

"Chara!" Harley shouted, dodging her swings.

"You can talk as much as you want, Harley!" Chara snarled. "Let's see you go through the Underground, being constantly attacked and not retaliating. Remember, you are the one with the pent up Rage!"

"I swore to save you, and all of monsterkind! And I keep my promises!"

Chara punched him in the gut, and he keeled over. She slammed her knee into his skull, and he fell back. She began hitting him, over and over again, his blood beginning to coat her fists. Light began to edge around his vision, and Chara, realizing that he was about to awaken, leaned over to his ear, and whispered,

"Give up, Harley. I am beyond saving."

* * *

Harley awoke to a puddle of blood on his pillow.

He sat up and touched his face. The blood was coming out of his nose, which Chara had broken.

"Fuck." He muttered, and, walking over to the closet, he pulled out a sweater, and used it to hold his nose.

"If she is actually hurting me, then my dream took me to the Void. It's the only reason why I have a bloody nose, and…" he stretched and winced, feeling pain from his chest. "Bruises. Great. Thanks, Chara."

" _You're welcome."_  her voice entered his mind. " _It's good to know that the injuries carry over. Means I can't kill you, seeing how I need you alive."_

" _I'm going to save you, Chara."  
_ " _What exactly is your strategy?"_

" _I am going to show you. I am hoping that it will help you remember how you were, before Frisk."_

" _And how's that? I have always hated humans."_

" _Good thing we're among monsters then, Chara. Monsters that you died trying to protect."_

Chara went silent.

" _Aren't you supposed to meet Toriel?"_ She asked abruptly.

Harley noticed the subject change, but didn't say anything. Instead, he looked back at the mess of blood, sighed, and walked out the door.

Everything after this was the same. Toriel attempting to divert the subject, and then sprinting downstairs.

He hesitated before entering the room with the exit outside.

" _Why do you hesitate?"_ Chara taunted.

" _This didn't go so well last time."_ Harley mused, ignoring Chara.

" _For her."_

" _Shut it."_

He stepped into the room.

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others." Toriel declared, facing the door. "There is only one solution to this." She slowly turned on heel, and, igniting her hands with fire, shouted, "Prove yourself! Prove to me that you are worthy!" She hurled with the fire with such force that Harley barely dodged it, and it exploded behind him, leaving him with a strange sense of déjà vu.

_Sprinting at Toriel, throwing his frying pan at her, Chara hot on his heels…_

He blinked, shaking away the image as he jumped to the side again, dodging the attack again.

"Why aren't you fighting back!" she cried out, hurling another attack at him, singing his sweater, causing him to wince. "What are you trying to prove by not attacking!"

"I won't fight you, Toriel!" Harley shouted.

"If you won't fight, he will kill you!" she threw another ball of flame at him, closing her eyes as she did so. The fire soared past him and exploded on the ceiling.

"Toriel!" Harley yelled.

"Fight back!" she cried, and swung her arm. The fire hit him dead on, the force of the explosion knocking him on his back. He lay there, momentarily stunned, before he felt the burning sensation. Yelping, he rolled over and over, putting out the flames.

Standing up, Harley walked over to Toriel and held out his arms. His sweater was charred, in some areas you could even see the black tee he wore underneath. "Toriel, I won't fight you. I refuse to fight you."

"Why, child?" She questioned. "Why don't you fight back?"

"Because…" Harley glanced at the ground, collecting his thoughts. When he looked back up at her, she could see the fire that burned in his eyes. "Because I made a promise. And I can't complete it if I become a killer, no matter who is attacking me. I rather die, than fail."

Toriel smiled sadly "...and this promise of yours prevents you from staying?"

"Yes."

"And the only way to stop you… Is to kill you?"

"Yes, Toriel."  
She sighed, defeated. "...I am not going to kill you." Toriel bent down and hugged Harley. "Be safe, my child."

Harley patted her back. "...I will, Toriel."

Toriel held onto Harley for a few more moments, and released him, standing and smiling kindly. "This friend of yours… they must be something special."

"Eh, I don't know." Harley responded. "But... I owe it to her to fix this. I owe it to everyone."

"What do you mean?" Toriel asked quizzically.

Harley didn't respond. He just faced the door, and, taking a breath, walked through, leaving Toriel alone once more.

* * *

Flowey sat in the middle of the next room.

"I don't like you." Flowey said, gazing at Harley.

"Feeling's mutual, plant." he responded.

"You changed things… You made this timeline, well, different. It's odd, human. It's… interesting. You are interesting. I'm going to tell you a secret, Harley."

"And what's that?"

"You have the most determined SOUL I have ever seen. It's like you have two SOULS in one, and I am not talking about Chara."

"Okay… and why's that so important?"

"You'll figure it out… or not!" Flowey laughed, and shrank into the ground.

" _I know what he means."_ Chara said suddenly.

" _What?"_ Harley asked, frustrated.

" _I'll let you decipher it."_

" _Fuck you too then."_

Harley stepped out into the snow, and immediately forgot his annoyance.

"It's freaking cold!" He shouted, and rubbed his arms.

" _Yeah, genius, there is snow."  
_ " _It wasn't this cold last time."_ he retorted.

" _Your sweater wasn't that badly burned last time either, genius."_

Harley refrained from responding, and stepped out into the cold.

He walked down the path, shivering, not stopping when he heard the branch crack. He knew who was there.

He shivered, glancing from side to side, before pausing, staring intently into the tree. That grey hair...

" _What?"_ Chara asked, irritated.

" _I could've sworn…"_  Harley shook his head, " _Nothing. Don't worry about -"_

A bored voice spoke. "turn 'round, kid. you know the drill."

Harley turned.

_-A skeleton floating in the air, bones spinning around him as two skull cannons floated on either side-_

"harley?" sans sounded surprised.

Harley raised his hand, and spoke, his teeth chattering.

"H-h-hey there, s-s-sans." he tried to smile, but his face felt frozen. "Good to see you… again…."

He collapsed.

Sans looked at him, emotions and thoughts flashing through his mind. " _i have questions, but i need to get him somewhere warm."_ he sighed. " _harley being here instead of frisk already breaks script. might as well as keep the train going."_  he picked up Harley, and stared into the trees, where Harley had been looking.

" _did he see something…?"_ The skeleton questioned, before shrugging and stepping into a shortcut.

Time to grab Paps, and head home.


	21. The Most Violent Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Warning : Chapter includes torture and rape. May disturb some readers. If you want to skip, there is a chapter summary at the bottom. Not kidding, I debated on removing it but left it due to later story importance

He skipped over Paps.

Deciding it would be better to talk to the kid alone, he just went straight home, figuring the Paps would realize he ditched his station, and come looking for him anyways.

Arriving at his home, he promptly dumped Harley on his couch and tossed a blanket over him. He then walked into the kitchen and began looking for something to drink. He began to reach for the Ketchup when he could hear Harley coughing. Rolling his eyes and deciding that he was going to need something stronger, he reached in the back of the fridge and grabbed a beer. He lightly chuckled, remembering when Papyrus made him hide them all in the back, because "Alcohol is evil" and "He didn't want to be a bad influence on the pet rock." Grabbing a chair, he headed back to the living room, to check on the kid.

Harley coughed again, opening his eyes.

"Where… am I?" He asked weakly, looking around.

"you're in my home, kid." Sans replied, walking in.

" _Oh shit."_ Harley thought.

" _You are so boned."_ Chara responded.

Sans dropped into his chair, and cracked open his drink, sipping from it, all while eyeing Harley.

" _He's onto us!"_ Chara yelled. " _Abort, abort!"_

" _Shut up, Chara!"_ Harley yelled in return.

"...relax, kid. If i meant you any harm, i woulda left you in the snow to freeze. so chill." he chuckled.

Harley stared at him.

Sans sighed. "you have hypothermia, kid. was hopin' you'd have a sense of humor now."

"I dislike puns. Especially when I'm freezing and your best joke is for me to chill."  
" _You hate puns?"_  Chara mused. " _I love puns. Oh, this is gonna be fun."_

" _I hate you."_

" _There is snow way you can hate me, Harley. Weather you like it or not, you snow you care. Why else would you be doing all of this work to save me?"_

" _Fuck off, Chara."_  Harley returned his attention to Sans.

Sans was staring at him.

"i wouldn't know about the cold. you see, the wind just blows right through me."

Harley sighed. "Can we get to the point?"

"snow problem, kid." He replied, deadpanned.

Harley ignored the joke, resigning himself to them. "Why did you bring me here? Last time we interacted, I kind of killed you."

"last time i saw you, you were with gaster in the void, discussing on how to stop frisk and save chara."

"How the fuck-?"

" _How the fuck-?"_

Harley and Chara spoke at the same time, only to both be cut off as Sans raised his hand.

"i dreamed it." Sans answered. "it was a few RESETs after you vanished, with frisk and chara both continuously failing to pass me. this particular run, they took a while in the ruins. an extra day, to be exact. so when i slept that night, as i waited outside the ruins for them to appear, i saw you and gaster. I could only hear bits and pieces, but i understood what i heard,"

" _How much did he hear?"_ Chara asked, seeming panicked.

"Which was?"

"you're here to save chara and monsterkind. how you're helping chara is beyond me, seeing how she's running around in that freak's mind, but monsterkind…" Sans broke off, and lowered his head, collecting his thoughts before speaking again. "you aren't the first human to say this. frisk actually succeeded in saving us all in what feels like lifetimes ago, but she wasn't satisfied with it."

"So you are afraid I am going to do the same thing?"

Sans nodded.

" _Eject your SOUL."_ Chara urged.

" _Why are you helping?"_ Harley asked. " _I thought you wanted everyone dead."_

Chara went silent.

" _Just shut up and do as I say."_ She snapped at him.

Harley shrugged, and ejected his SOUL.

"Sans." He said. "Look."

Sans looked at Harley's SOUL, examining his LV and the state of the SOUL. "you're clean. i knew this already. i wouldn't have brought you here otherwise. i'm no numbskull."

Harley returned his SOUL to his body.

"look, kid. the only way i'll fully trust you will be when we are on the surface, and i no longer have to fear that i'll be sent back to the start of today. however, i'll do my best to help you. you've earned that, at least." Sans stood up, and walked back over to the kitchen. "for starters, you're gonna stay here to recover. you aren't as strong as you used to be, and your human body is prone to illness. i won't be surprised if you have a fever now."

"Couldn't you just heal that?" Harley asked.

"i really shouldn't. healing magic isn't my strong suit."

Harley sighed, and bundled himself up under the blanket. "Alright."

" _At least he doesn't know that you're here, Chara."_

" _Go to sleep, Harley. We will speak in the Void."_

Harley nodded, and closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep.

Sans stood in the kitchen, watching as Harley nodded off. "i hope i can trust ya, kid." he muttered. "even with that demon in your head." He dropped backwards into a shortcut, intending to meet with Papyrus.

He needed to make sure if Frisk was still coming.

* * *

_Harley opened his eyes._

_Instead of standing in Judgement Hall, they were sitting in Chara's old room, in New Home. She was on her bed, he sat on Flowey's._

" _You are a fool, Harley." Chara told him, standing up. He could see the contempt flashing in her eyes as she gazed at him. "You are trusting yourself with Sans, of all people, to watch over you while you are sick. You would be better off in the inn, taking care of yourself."  
_ " _Why do you care so much?" Harley asked. "The last time I was here, you were beating on me like there was no tomorrow. But today you care_ soooo  _much!"_

" _We are bonded, Harley!" Chara spat. "Unless you are here in the Void, the only place where we are split, your pain is my pain!"_

" _Good." Harley responded, his temper flaring. "That means that you'll be with me every step of the way! You'll feel all the pain I feel as we save a whole freaking race!"_

" _I don't care about saving the race!" Chara yelled. "I just want to ERASE this world out of existence!"_

" _Chara, you were just doing your best to help me! Stop acting like you don't care! Stop pretending the only thing that matters is ERASE!"_

" _I don't-"_

"Stop pretending!"  _Harley bellowed. "You're not a Demon! You're a human!"_

" _I am not human!" Chara shouted. "I rejected your race a long time ago! Only you humans are capable of such unspeakable acts!"_

" _You don't think I don't know that!" Harley shouted. "You think I don't know that humans are disgusting, awful creatures that'll kill and hurt to get what they want!"_

" _You are right, you do know that!" So why would you call me, and even yourself, human!?"_

" _Because guess what!" Harley roared. "Since I stepped foot in the Underground, all I've done is hurt and kill! And you want to know what else!?_ So! Have! You!  _All you talk about is an ERASE, a full Genocide! So you're no better than us, Chara. Welcome, to humanity!"_

_Chara went silent. Harley watched her, rage pulsing through his SOUL._

" _You're right, Harley. I am no better than the humans." Chara said quietly. She shrugged. "Guess I should take what I want then."_

_She raised her hand, and a wave of dark energy slammed into Harley, knocking him to the ground and trapping him there, his arms and legs outspread, his head trapped in an unmovable position._

" _What did I say before, Harley?" She asked, getting on her knees and crawling over to him as he struggled to escape his bonds. "I live in this Void. I retain my power here. You, however, are trapped here every night. You have no power."_

" _Don't do this, Chara!" He yelled. "Let me go!"_

" _Hehe…" She giggled, an insane look in her eyes. "I'm only human, Harley. And I have wanted this for so long!"_

_She summoned a knife, and in a few quick movements, she sliced off all of Harley's clothes._

" _Aww…" She complained. "Can't have you unaroused, now can we?" she took her clothes off in a similar fashion. "You are a human male, though. It won't take too long. Not with a woman as blessed as me walking around naked. In the meantime…" She licked her lips. "Let's put this knife to use."_

" _Chara!" Harley shouted again as Chara knelt beside his torso. "Chara, stop!"_

" _I don't want to, Harley." She placed the knife on his chest. "Let's see how much pain you can take?" She sliced downwards, creating a long gash on his chest. She swiped again, crossing over the gash to create an X, and slammed the blade into his left shoulder, leaving it there as he yelled in pain. She gazed down at his dick, and saw that it remained limp. "Oh." She realized. "You aren't going to have enough blood to flow down and become erect. No matter. I can use magic to stiffen the muscles anyways."_

_She summoned more dark energy, and grabbed his dick with her right hand, beginning to stroke it. She laughed as she felt it begin to grow and stiffen. "There is no escape, Harley."_

_She moved over to his legs, and leaned over, and began to suck on it. Summoning another knife, she kept her right right hand on his dick and looked up at his stomach and torso. Unable to speak, she brought her left hand up to his stomach, braced the knife against it, and swiped across, cutting him again, making him howl in pain once more. Lifting her head, she swiped the knife across his stomach again, and again, and again, blood flowing out of him freely._

_Standing over Harley, she lowered herself onto him, slowly impaling herself. She sat for a moment, allowing herself to adjust, and she leaned over his bloody torso, looking at him in the eyes._

" _I'm only human, Harley."_

" _Please…" Harley muttered. "Stop…"_

_Chara slammed her knife into him, impaling his right bicep. As he yelled in pain, she kissed his neck and sat up, beginning to grind her hips as she rode him. She moaned in pleasure, and summoned another knife, which she placed on his chest. As she began to lift herself with her legs so she could bounce on him, she began to cut his chest. Every few bounces, a new cut. Her moans of pleasure were mixed with his cries of pain._

_After a short while, she felt him orgasm, and climbed off of him. She stood and gazed at her handiwork. Harley lay there, covered in blood as it seeped from his wounds._

" _Why… Chara…" He asked weakly._

_She shook her head and shrugged. "I'm only human."_

_A flash of light filled the Void, and Harley vanished, leaving Chara standing naked beside puddles of blood._

* * *

"wake up! kid, get up!" Sans shouted desperately.

When he had left to catch up with Papyrus, he had a feeling that he should go to the gate first. And to his surprise, Frisk was standing there, with no LV.

So he followed the script, keeping an eye on her as she played along with Papyrus's antics.

However, when they reached the "Gauntlet of Terror" as Pap called, it, he decided that he should go home and check on the kid he had left at home, and thank gaster he did.

When he walked in and heard sounds, he figured the kid was having nightmares. After all, he must've had a shitty life to had come to this mountain, right?

But it was so much worse than he imagined.

The human had fallen off the sofa onto the floor, with his arms and legs outstretched, like he was pinned, keeping him in place as he thrashed about. His shirt was covered in blood, and there were puddles of it pooling on the floor beside him. So Sans did the logical thing and immediately went to wake him.

Only he wouldn't wake.

For a good half hour, Sans shook the kid, shouting his name, causing an overall commotion as he struggled to wake the kid.

And the Papyrus arrived.

"HELLO, SANS! I HAVE ARRIVED - OH MY GOD!"  
Papyrus gazed at the scene in horror.

"What's going on?" Frisk asked, peering around Papyrus. "Oh, shit!"

"SANS, WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

"i don't know, pap! i came home to check on the kid, and he was like this!"

"WHY IS THERE A HUMAN IN OUR HOUSE!"

"i found him in the snow!" Sans cried out. "he was collapsed in the snow! i was abouta tell you when this human arrived!"

Frisk watched the scene silently.

" _What is Chara doing to him?_ " She wondered.

"kid, wake up! please!" Sans shouted desperately.

* * *

_Gaster stood over the bloody Harley._

" _You need to awaken, Harley." He informed him._

" _Gaster, is she beyond saving?" Harley whispered, his voice barely audible._

" _You did well, Harley. You made progress."_

" _How?" He asked._

" _You made her realize she is only human. The biggest problem that Chara has is that she believes she is beyond redemption. You are on your way to helping her realize that isn't true. Even with all of your flaws, you humans can fix your mistakes. And you are going to keep proving to her that, no matter the punishment, you will keep working to fix yours."_

_Harley's wounds began to close, and Gaster offered him a hand._

" _Did you heal me?" Harley asked._

" _No, Papyrus did. You are currently scaring the crap out of them. When I brought you here, you stopped having a seizure. They must have figured it was the best opportunity to heal you. However, your body will now have a serious fever. Illness shouldn't be healed with magic, and Papyrus won't bother trying it."_

_Harley sighed. "Okay."_

" _Good luck."_

* * *

Harley opened his eyes.

"Hey." He croaked weakly, gazing around.

He saw the concerned faces of Sans and Papyrus.

And the absolute indifference on Frisk's

" _Oh, fuck."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Chapter summary for those who skipped it. Sans talks to the sick Harley, and reveals that he knows that Gaster sent him back to rescue Chara and save the monsters. He then pretends that he doesn't know Chara is in Harley's head, despite him hearing Gaster say it. After, Harley confronts Chara in the Void, and they argue, with him insisting that her mistakes are redeemable, seeing as she is only human. However, she embraces the entirety of her humanity, and proceeds to torture and rape Harley, leaving him bleed, bruised, and left with new mental scars. Gaster rescues him from her, pulling her into a different part of the Void, where he tells him that he did a good job in convincing Chara that she is only human, for she will eventually feel pain and remorse for what she did.
> 
> As this was happening, Sans had returned home after leaving Papyrus with Frisk. Seeing Harley bleeding out and seizing on the ground, he begins to panic, trying to keep Harley still. Soon Papyrus arrived, and after Harley stopped seizing (when Gaster retrieved him) he healed him, allowing him to wake. He wakes with his fever having worsened, and sees Papyrus and Sans, looking concerned, and Frisk, looking indifferent.
> 
> So… yeah. This was written at a darker time in my life, when I was in a worse place. I only left it because of later story importance I gave it  
> So uh, yeah.  
> That's all!


	22. Chara Makes Progress

Harley blinked, and opened his eyes.

It had been a week.

A week since he was brought to the bone brothers' house. A week since his dream with Chara.

A week since Frisk arrived.

She hadn't really spoken to him. He had spent most of his days sleeping on the couch, fighting off his fever. She, however, spent most of her days wandering around Snowdin, claiming that she didn't want to leave without Harley.

"GOOD MORNING, HUMAN!" Papyrus smiled down at him, "HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?"  
"Better Pap, thanks." Harley responded, smiling up at the anatomically inaccurate skeleton.

Papyrus had been the main one nursing him back to health, using his magic and a surprisingly tasty soup (he learned the hard way that soup is the only good thing Papyrus can make. Do not, under  _any_  circumstances, accept his spaghetti.)

And he realized that he liked these monsters.

Sans was very intelligent, studying in multiple different fields of science, many of which Harley didn't understand. He indeed did love to tell bad puns and laze around, taking many naps a day. Both of these habits seemed to greatly annoy Papyrus.

Papyrus was a very responsible and active skeleton, with the biggest heart Harley had ever seeN. He had never understood why Papyrus just stood there while Frisk killed him over and over again, but he did now. Papyrus would much rather befriend his enemy than harm them, and would only fight in the most desperate of circumstances, but never to kill. Seeing how Papyrus wanted to join the Royal Guard, the organization supposed to capture and kill humans, Harley was a bit nervous of him at first. However, he now realized how big of a softie he was.

Harley leaned back on the couch, and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of Papyrus cheerfully humming in the kitchen. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep again.

* * *

Frisk absolutely hated this timeline.

She hadn't found a timeline interesting since Harley traveled alongside her and Chara, but at least those without him made sense.

This one was just fucking  _weird_. Harley befriending monsters, Papyrus being wary of her, and that whole thing when Harley was attacked by Chara. This whole thing was insane.

Frisk walked towards the Waterfall entrance. She had an idea on how to get this timeline changed back to normal.

* * *

_Harley opened his eyes and was greeted by the small bedroom in the Void. He looked down, and he saw he was standing in the exact place where he had left, and he could see his dry blood on the floor._

" _I am sorry, Harley." Chara spoke. He glanced up and saw Chara on her bed._

" _Why, Chara?" He asked._

_She shrugged. "You reminded me I was human. I acted human."_

" _So why'd you apologize?"_

" _Because…" She lowered her head. "I am ashamed to admit it, but… you are a good human too, Harley. Everything you did, you did to protect me and Frisk. And when you found out we were using you, you retaliated, and since then have done your best to right your wrongs." She sighed tiredly._

" _Chara...?" Harley said, his voice full of questions._

" _I don't know, Harley. After you were pulled away, and the anger faded, I felt… empty. I don't know what I am doing anymore." She looked at him. "I've been watching as you befriended Papyrus and Sans. It fills me with emotions I haven't felt in forever… since Frisk began to slaughter everyone over and over again."_

" _Something is different this time 'round." Harley told her. "Papyrus seems wary of her. When they realized that there was nowhere for Frisk to sleep, he didn't have her sleep in his room, like I expected. Instead he and Sans have been paying for her to sleep in the motel."_

" _Huh, I didn't notice that. Interesting."_

_They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes._

" _Look, Chara, I forgive you."  
_ " _Wha-?" She was confused._

" _You're damaged. You were broken. Frisk pushed so much hate and anger on you, over and over again, never once relenting. You didn't deserve it then, and you don't deserve it now. I'm here to help you, Chara."  
_ " _I don't want your help!" She shouted, standing up. "I want… Ugh!" She jumped forward, and landed on Harley's chest, pushing him back and knocking all the air out of him. She began to hit him repeatedly, bloodying his face as her fists slammed into it over and over again._

" _Fight back!" She shouted, hitting him. "Fight me!" She hit him again, jumped to her feet. and seized him by his shirt, lifting him up and throwing him on the floor. "Why won't you fight back, Harley? Why!?"_

" _Tell me…" He choked out. "Tell me… If you don't want forgiveness… what do you want?"_

" _I…" She fell to her knees beside him. "I… I… I don't know! Arghhhhhh!"_

_She stood and kicked him, her foot slamming into his jaw so hard that she heard a loud crack as it shattered._

" _No…" She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Harley!"_

_Harley gazed at her, the pain in his eyes evident and he attempted to smile at her, and in a blink of an eye, he vanished._

" _Harley, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

_Chara fell back and curled up, her head in between her knees and her hands over her eyes as she cried._

" _I didn't mean to!"_

* * *

Frisk chuckled as she watched Monster Kid run over to Undyne's house, carrying a message from her.

" _Oh._ " She thought. " _This will be good._ "


	23. All Hell Breaks Loose

"kid, wake up!" Sans hissed, shaking Harley. "You need to wake up!"

Harley opened his eyes, grunting in pain. He could feel the injuries Chara had given him, including his newly broken jaw.

"kid, what's going on?" Sans asked, mopping up Harley's blood. "this is the second time this happens!"

"Nightmares." Harley lied immediately, his voice a mumble. He was having difficulty speaking without moving his mouth.

"your jaw is broken."

"It was a very violent nightmare."

Sans sighed. "look, kid. i told you i'd help you. but i can't do that if you keep lying to me."

"Sans, if I thought you could help, I would've told you." Harley told him. "But this is something I gotta do on my own. Got it?"

Sans shook his head. "i'm just worried kid, and you getting these mysterious injuries are starting to scare pap."

"I'm sorry, Sans, I really am. But I can't tell you."  
Sans just grunted and stood up. "imma have pap come by to heal you." He said and walked off.

" _Harley?"_ Chara's voice entered his mind. " _You can hear me, right?"_

" _Yes, I can."_ Harley responded curtly.

" _I'm so sorry, Harley. I don't know why… I don't know why I attacked you."_

" _It's fine, Chara. I expect pain every time I show up to you in the Void."_

" _But you-"_

" _Shush."_ Harley just noticed Papyrus walking over to him.

"HELLO, HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed. "SANS TOLD ME YOU MANAGED TO HURT YOURSELF!"

Harley nodded, not wanting to speak again.

"LET ME HELP YOU WITH THAT!" He exclaimed, and activated his magic, placing his hands on either side of Harley's face. Slowly, Harley could feel his jaw reconnecting, his nose resetting, and the pains on his body beginning to heal.

After a few moments, Papyrus stopped healing Harley and gazed down upon him.

"...HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY, HUMAN?"  
"A lot better, thanks to you, Pap." Harley smiled at him.

"...GOOD." Papyrus nodded, but something seemed… off, about him.

"Pap, are you okay?" Harley asked him.

"...NO, NO I AM NOT, HARLEY." Papyrus replied, looking away from him.

Harley stood up. "Papyrus, what happened?"

Papyrus stretched out his hand, and activated a powerful blast of gravity magic, slamming Harley into the ground.

" _Harley!"_ Chara screamed.

"Papyrus, what the hell!" Harley yelled, rolling to look up upon the tall skeleton.

Papyrus stood there, his left hand keeping Harley on the ground, his right holding his bone sword, the very same one that Harley stole from him in the first timeline. An orange fire burned in Papyrus's right eye, and he spoke.

"HARLEY, WHY DID YOU KILL UNDYNE?"

* * *

Sans fell backwards into a shortcut.

He appeared in the True Lab, right in front of Alphys.

She screamed. "T-the fuck, Sans! I-i've told you not to do that!"

"sorry." Sans apologized.

"I would believe you if you weren't smirking."

"heh, sorry, alph. that's just my face."

"That's not true and you know it." Alphys sighed. "Look, are you just here to torment me?"

"no, i have a question. you know the male human, harley?"

"The one you've been sheltering? Yeah, I saw him leave the ruins, only to be picked up by you later on."

"well, there's an interesting thing about his mind and his SOUL. he's actually carrying a second human in his mind, and he has a fuckton of determination in his body. like, more than gaster said was ever possible to show up in a human."

"Seriously?" Alphys asked, intrigued. "Who is this second human?"

"...it's chara. the first fallen human."

Alphys gaped at Sans. "How do you know this?"

"alphys, do you remember the research i'm always working on?"

"Timelines, right?"

"yea, that. well, look at this." Sans pulled a piece of paper from out of his back pocket and showed it to her. It was a chart, showing one large red line, with multiple branches. At one point, the branches began to loop back, over and over again.

"What is that?" Alphys asked, pointing to the loops.

"those are timeline resets. a series of days repeating over and over again."

"And they are caused by… Wait." She took a closer glance at the day that everything kept returning to, and a look of realization dawned upon her face. "The humans?"

Sans nodded. "both of them have the ability to use it, but harley doesn't like to. frisk, however, seems to enjoy using it."

Alphys studied the chart in his hands for a few more moments, then looked up at him. "Sans, how do you know this?"

Sans looked around the room they were in. "do you have somewhere we can sit? it's a long story."

"Of course. Follow me."

* * *

Frisk stood on top of the bridge in Waterfall, reminiscing.

She remembered the first time she was on this bridge, back when she still wanted to save all of the monsters.

She remembered her first genocide, and the number of attempts it took her to kill Undyne.

She remembered how easy it had gotten, after dozens of RESETS. Undyne's pattern never changed. The first time she killed Undyne without so much as a scratch was a priceless memory, with Undyne looking so defeated, having completely failed her species.

But when Harley came around, Undyne had gotten a huge power boost, and easily slew Harley and Chara over and over again, until Chara was able to use her magic to kill Undyne.

Frisk frowned. That run had set her on this path. It made her alone.

Chara was now with Harley. And while he looked worse for wear because of it, she could be corrupted or cleansed very easily. The fragment that was her SOUL was easily influenced by her SOUL's host, and with Harley being a freaking Pacifist, Chara will very soon be returned to original state.

_Frisk scowled. "My plan will prevent that from happening."_ She thought to herself. " _This will work."_

"Hey, dude!" Monster Kid shouted, running over to Frisk.

A vicious smile spread across Frisk's face, and she turned to face the young monster.

"Why, hello there!"

She jumped towards him, her hand reaching out for his throat.

* * *

"So you're saying that this 'Chara, is living in Harley?"

"yea."

"And that the girl, Frisk, has slaughtered us, time and time again?"

"well, except me and you. you evacuate all the survivors to the capital, and i go to judgement hall."

"And do what, exactly?"

Sans gazed at Alphys, his eye sockets empty.

"i judge her." He said flatly, an image of the broken Frisk flashing past his mind.

"And you are saying that you remember every timeline?"  
"yes."

"Why you?"

"i'm not going to go all into it," Sans responded evasively. "but it is harley's, and probably gaster's fault."

Alphys nodded, knowing full well that if Sans didn't want to say something, no manner of persuasion would change his mind. "And you are saying that you never tried to do something different?"

"oh no, i did. but either no one believed me, or it made little to no difference at all. in the end, it was always frisk and i in judgement hall."

"And Harley…?"

"i don't know. after dozens of RESETS, i had grown tired of it all… and i said to myself, 'please, let there be a new human… one who will actually free us all.' next thing i knew, there was another reset. but this time, something felt off. and when the ruin's door opened, i knew why: frisk now had a brother, named harley."

"but you see, here's the issue. the main time stream, which i refer to as the 'system,' didn't seem happy about harley's appearance, and it seemed that it was doing it's best to kill him off. a similar thing began to happen if i messed with the way things was supposed to happen, 'cept not as extreme."

"So what did this system do to rid of him? I mean, it obviously failed."

"i don't know too much of what happened in the ruins, but i've heard the ruin's monsters were extremely brutal, tryna kill him off already. and i didn't know it until later on, but frisk had given chara command of her body. after that, things 'round here began goin' haywire, with even papyrus listening to me when i told him to be prepared for frisk and harley. because of all of this, i began to refer to harley as the glitch."  
"The Glitch…" Alphys mused, fascinated by Sans's explanation. "What else happened in this timeline?"

"well, i don't know what happened after i was killed."

"After you were… wait, I thought you said that Frisk never killed you!"

"i have died twice. once by frisk, and once by harley."

"He killed you!?"  
"yes. and i know he regrets it."

"How would you possibly know that!"

"gaster, alphys, gaster!" Sans responded impatiently "ugh, here is my point in all of this: we have three humans. Two of them are walking around, and the third is trapped in one's mind. harley is our best bet at avoiding extinction because sooner or later, frisk will revert to her old ways! so we need to capture frisk while she is weak, to prevent her from causing damage, and we need to separate chara and harley by using the increased determination in harley's SOUL."

Alphys sat quiet, deep in thought. "Why do we need Chara back, Sans?"  
"harley doesn't even know i'm aware he has chara, nor does he know that i know that part of his mission is to undo the havoc frisk did to her. i don't know how he is supposed to do this, but what i do know is that chara is causing massive amounts of damage to harley - when i checked on him this morning, he had a broken jaw."  
"so if we seperate them, harley can keep helping chara, and we can make sure no serious damage comes to either of them anymore."

"And you are sure of this?" Alphys asked softly.

"yes, i am." Sans replied. "will you help me?"

She sighed. "Yes, I will. So I supposed we need to get Frisk, right?"

As if on cue, multiple alarms began to go off in the lab.

"what is that?" Sans shouted, alarmed.

"Follow me!"

The two of them sped over to Alphys's office, where her monitors sat. The alarms sat in two places, the first being in Waterfall, where they could see Frisk attacking a small yellow monster with no arms.

"mk, no!" Sans shouted, and immediately fell backwards into a shortcut.

"Sans!" Alphys cried out. She gazed over at the second location and gasped.

It was at Sans's house.

"Harley…" she whispered, horrified. "Papyrus!"

She immediately tried to call Undyne, who didn't answer.

"No…" She muttered. "Looks like I only have one choice." She dialed a number on her phone.

"T-there is a human in combat in Snowdin Town, in Sans's house! P-please come!"

* * *

"Papyrus, what the hell are you talking about?" Harley asked, struggling to stand. "I haven't left your house since I arrived!"

"I KNOW, HUMAN. I DO NOT MEAN NOW. I MEAN THE LAST TIME YOU WERE HERE."

" _He remembers!?"_ Chara asked, shocked.

"I REMEMBER IT, HUMAN. I HAVE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT IT FOR A LONG TIME, DREAMING OF YOU AND FRISK. THAT AND… A MAN NAMED GASTER CONFIRMED IT ALL FOR ME."

"What?"

Papyrus released Harley from the magic, and gazed at him sadly. "HE TOLD ME WHY YOU DID IT, TOO. BUT I WANT YOUR ANSWER. NOW, PLEASE."

"I did it because I was protecting my sister." Harley told him. "I was protecting Frisk… who allowed me to believe I was related to her. Who allowed me to believe I was actually meant to be here. Who allowed me to believe that I was something to her! But I wasn't. I was just another tool for her to use, a Glitch that she took advantage of."

Papyrus dropped his sword, walked over to Harley, and hugged him.

"THAT IS WHAT GASTER TOLD ME, TOO."

"So why did you attack me?"

"JUST A LITTLE PAYBACK, FOR UNDYNE."

Harley smiled weakly. "Ok, let's just leave the payback at that, okay? Can't exactly save monsterkind if I'm always too injured to leave the house.

Harley felt Chara's distress from inside his mind.

" _Harley, I am so sorry."  
_ " _I know, Chara."_

There was a knock at the door.

Papyrus and Harley both gazed at it, surprised. They watched as it opened, and Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard, stepped in.

"Good job, Papyrus." She said curtly. "You have captured a human."

"What?" Harley asked, glancing at Papyrus.

The taller skeleton seemed just as surprised. "WHY ARE YOU HERE, UNDYNE?"

"I was told you captured a human. Seems my source was right." Undyne walked over to Harley, and stood in front of him, sizing him up. "Are you going to come quietly, human?"  
Harley shrugged. "Might as well." He walked to the door and turned back. "You're taking me to the capital, right?"

"No." Undyne responded. "I am going to kill you." She summoned a spear and tossed him Papyrus's sword. "Here is as good as a place as any."

Harley caught the sword. "Why ask if I was going to come quietly then?"

She grinned. "I have no idea. NGAHHHHHH!"

She leaped at Harley, who ducked, and jumped out of the way. He lifted the sword and deflected a volley of spears that Undyne sent at him.

"I'm not going to fight you, Undyne!" Harley shouted, deflecting yet another volley of spears.

"Honor your ancestors, and fight!" Undyne yelled.

"No." He dropped the sword and gasped in pain as a spear embedded itself in his shoulder.

Undyne strode over to him. "Why do you refuse, human? I thought it was in your kind's nature to kill monsters."

"Maybe… But if it is, I renounce my species."

" _You see, that's what I did."_ Chara said triumphantly. " _For the same reason, too! Well, except I didn't have a spear sticking out of me."_

" _Not. Now. Chara."_

Undyne shook her head in disgust. "Whatever."

"UNDYNE, IF I MAY."  
"What is it, Papyrus?"

"RIGHT IN FRONT OF US SITS WHAT IS POSSIBLY THE NICEST HUMAN SINCE CHARA DREEMURR, RIGHT?"

"Well, maybe. Refusing to fight while having a spear sticking out of her sounds like something she would've done."

"EXACTLY. SO WHY NOT GO AFTER THE OTHER HUMAN?"

"What other human?" Undyne asked, confused.

"THE HUMAN FRISK. SHE LEFT TO WATERFALL A LITTLE WHILE AGO. SHE WAS THE ONLY OTHER ONE WHO KNEW HARLEY WAS HERE. DIDN'T SHE TELL YOU HE WAS HERE?"

"No." Undyne said. "A little yellow monster did."

Another knock sounded at the door.

"I got it." Undyne said, looking annoyed. She walked over to the door and opened it.

Asgore, the king of monsters, stepped in.

_-a knife embedded itself in the King's head, and he fell back in shock-_

" _Oh no."_ Harley thought.

" _Dad…"_ Chara said. " _This isn't going to end well."_

"Howdy." He said tiredly. "I was told there was a human here." He glanced towards Papyrus and saw Harley standing beside him, the spear still sticking out of him. "There you are. Thank you for summoning me, Undyne. Please remove your spear from the human."

"B-but I didn't-" Undyne stammered, releasing her magic, causing the weapon to vanish.

"Human, please come with me."

Harley sighed. "Alrighty then."

Harley walked forward and followed Asgore out of the house.

Papyrus and Undyne gazed at each other, neither speaking.

"There is a human in Waterfall?" Undyne asked. Papyrus nodded.

"And you claim that this human, the one that just left with Asgore, is good?"

Papyrus nodded again.

"And the one in Waterfall isn't?"

Another nod, and Undyne left the house.

Papyrus walked over to the couch, and sat down, taking a shaky breath.

"OH NO."

* * *

"B-bro, why…"

Frisk stood over Monster Kid, and grinned.

"I just need that LV,  _bro_." She swung downwards -

And her arms froze, surrounded by blue magic.

"you're coming with me." Sans said, and walked through a shortcut, tossing a monster candy to MK before he left with Frisk.

He appeared in Alphys's lab, dragging Frisk with him. "got the devil with me!" He called, and Alphys rushed out.

"Sans! I-I'm sorry!" She cried out.

"alphys, what happened?"

"T-there was f-fighting going on in your house, a-and Undyne wouldn't answer her phone… S-sans, I called Asgore!"

Sans, with a shocked expression on his face, fell into another shortcut, dragging Frisk with him back to his house.

He appeared, a surveyed the damage. His couch had been thrown backwards, with a point of impact a few feet in front of it, probably caused by gravity magic. There were little holes everywhere, which was probably from Undyne's spears (explains why she didn't answer the phone). There was no sign of Asgore, and Harley had vanished too.

Papyrus sat on the couch and looked up when Sans arrived.

"SANS! ASGORE-"

"took harley. i know."

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, SANS!"

Frisk laughed. "There is nothing you can do! You know it as well as I do, Sans! Either he kills Asgore, or he dies! There is literally nothing that will stop me from becoming the God of this world!"

"you know what, pap? there is something we can do."

"WHAT IS THAT, SANS?"

"we can bring this evil trash to Asgore instead."


	24. ASGORE

"No no no no no!"

A tiny little flower was peering over the window into the Skeleton Home.

He had witnessed it all.

"Asgore has the human… and I'm not ready yet! I can't get Papyrus to send the other monsters to New Home, Harley hasn't befriended them!"

The flower growled, his friendly face flickering between his evil one and back.

"If Asgore kills the human, he'll succeed in collecting seven SOULs. And while Undyne is after Frisk, Frisk'll kill her. This isn't good…"

Flowey watched as Sans appear, with Frisk in tow.

"Well… That makes things simpler…" He sat and mused. "Hmmm…"

Suddenly, his face lit up, and he grinned devilishly. "Got it." With a laugh, Flowey the Flower vanished into the snow.

* * *

Asgore refused to look at Harley.

He didn't cuff him, or even have the Royal Guard with him.

Just the King and Harley, walking quietly through Waterfall.

A human and an oversized goat.

It was an interesting sight for all that they passed by.

"Y'know," Harley said, breaking the tense silence. "If I didn't know that this is technically a death march for me… this would actually be kind of peaceful."

Asgore glanced nervously at Harley, uncertain of what to say.

"Your castle's at the other end of the caves, right?"

Asgore nodded.

"So how'd you get to Snowdin so fast?"  
"I ran." Asgore replied quietly.

Harley chuckled. "That must've been an amusing sight."

Smiling lightly, Asgore responded. "I almost squashed an Aaron on my way over. He was not very happy about that."

"I would imagine."

"What is your name, Human?"

"My name's Harley."

"Harley…" Asgore hesitated. "I can't tell why, but I feel like I met you before, Harley. And that it wasn't under the best of circumstances.

" _That happens sometimes."_  Chara murmured. " _They occasionally retain feelings, emotions, but it all feels like a distant memory to them."_

Harley shrugged. "No idea. I feel like I'd remember a fuzzy guy as yourself."

They reached the entrance to Hotland, and they both hesitated.

"...Why do you want to return so badly?" Harley asked. "Humans suck, Asgore. They'd probably attack you on sight."  
"It is my duty to my people." he replied wearily. "I have to use your SOUL, alongside the other six I have, to gain godlike power, destroy the barrier, and kill all humans, leaving a safe haven for monsters aboveground."  
"So why do you sound so reluctant?"

"...Keep walking, Harley."

With a sigh, Harley did as he was told, and continued to walk behind Asgore.

They walked through Hotland, squeezing into elevators along the way.

They walked into the CORE and took the elevator to the back.

Before he knew it, they were standing in front of the elevator to the New Home.

"You know what I keep wondering?" Harley asked aloud as they squeezed into an elevator. "If you knew that you shouldn't go to the surface. I mean, you only needed one SOUL to cross the barrier. So why have you waited for seven?"

The elevator dinged, and they stepped out into the upper walkways of Asgore's palace.

He sighed. "Harley, you are correct. I do not want to return. I do not want to harm anyone. When my kids died, I was… enraged. Declaring war was all I could think of, and it gave my kind hope."

" _Oh, father… What did I do to you…"  
_ "My wife did not approve. She left shortly after I killed the second human to fall down here. And I soon lost my will to fight. I only kept killing humans because I made a promise, and it was my duty to keep that promise."

They were standing in front of Chara's old home. The same one that Toriel lived in, all the way back in the Ruins.

They walked in, and Asgore walked them through the palace.

Through Judgement Hall.

Past his throne.

And finally…

"This is the barrier." Asgore rumbled. "This is what traps us down here."

Asgore turned, facing Harley.

"As you have guessed, I am tired of this war. But I have a duty to fulfill, and after I kill you, the war will be almost over anyway."  
Seven jars rose from the ground, six of which contained SOULS of different positive traits - Patience. Bravery. Integrity. Perseverance. Kindness. Justice.

The world flashed, and Harley gazed upon his own SOUL. The brilliant red shone powerfully, with the black taint of Hatred completely gone.

" _Hey, Chara?"  
_ " _Yes, Harley. You succeeded."_

" _So at least if I die, I wouldn't have failed completely."  
_ She chuckled. " _Thank you, Harley. No one else would have stuck with me after the hell I caused you."_

" _Answer me this: what finally did it?"_

" _When you last left, the pain I caused - I regretted it. And when you refused to fight Undyne, I understood why. Don't get me wrong, I feel… lost. I don't know what I am doing in this world anymore. But I am thankful that you saved me."_

"Human…" Asgore rumbled, and he lowered his head. "It was nice to meet you. Goodbye."

Asgore unsheathed a giant trident, and slammed it into the ground, causing the floor to shake.

"Holy shit!" Harley shouted, and he ducked as Asgore summoned a large fire, and began hurling them at him. As nimble as he was, he could not stop himself from getting burned, time and time again.

"I won't fight you, Asgore!" Harley shouted. "In fact-"  
" _Harley, no!"_

He raised his hands in surrender. "-just kill me!"

" _No, Harley, no! There is another way!"_

Asgore lowered his weapon and stared at him in disbelief. "All humans, even the ones who refused to fight at first, have fought. None offer themselves as a sacrifice. So why?"

"What am I, compared to the needs of an entire race? Why should I roam free, while you all remain here? Look, your species is determined to return, and you, my friend, have a duty. So…" Harley lowered himself to his knees and exposed his neck. "Do it. I'm not worth keeping alive."

" _Harley, no…"_  Chara whimpered.

" _Chara, my entire existence has been pain. My memories, fake or not, prove what my scars say: that I am too weak. Too weak to protect my sister. Too weak to see the truth. Too weak to fight. Gaster gave me two tasks - save you and save monsterkind. My Determination saved you. And my sacrifice will save the monsters."_

" _Harley…"_

" _I'm strong enough to face this. And hey, Chara, this way… we can finally rest."  
_ " _Harley… Thank you. I am glad that we met."_ She sighed, and smiled sadly. " _See you soon, then."  
_ " _On the other side."_

Harley glanced up at Asgore, who was standing there, his weapon shaking in his hand.

"Asgore. Thank you… for allowing me to show my strength."

"Human, I cannot-"  
"Asgore, you have to fulfill your duty to your people. And, you will be doing me a favor… I am done with being alive."

His hands shook. "Harley… are you sure?"

"I am."  
"Then farewell… And thank you."

Asgore lifted his trident, and brought it down on Harley's neck.

* * *

Sans popped into in Judgment Hall, dragging along Papyrus and Frisk.

They could already hear the sounds of combat a few rooms away.

"come on!" Sans shouted. Papyrus scooped him up, and, his gravity magic still holding Frisk, the three of them quickly arrived at the Barrier Door, only to find it blocked off.

The combat faded, and there was dead silence in the next room.

"THAT'S NOT GOOD."

Frisk laughed. "No. No it is not."

Sans glared at her, and opened his mouth to speak. But out of nowhere, his world turned black.


	25. Once Wasn't Enough

Asgore lifted his trident, and brought it down on Harley's neck, impaling him.

Harley's SOUL appeared, and Asgore gently began to capture it…

Only for it to glow brightly, and return to his body.

Asgore gazed in surprise at the little flower beside Harley, whose evil smile was beginning to fade into shock.

"The… hell?" Flowey asked, speaking to no one.

Asgore gazed down at the flower, and then at Harley.

"What… What have I become?" Asgore asked himself. "I have gone from simply murdering kids… to killing this one in cold blood. And for what?"

Seemingly forgotten, Flowey sat quiet, listening to Asgore's ramblings.

"Tori…" He muttered, stepping away from Harley. "What have I done…"

Flowey noticed something behind Asgore.

"The human SOULs!" He gleefully thought, and he began to carefully make his way over to them.

Asgore pulled his trident free of Harley's neck and watched as the wound began to close.

Harley began to shudder as air began to flow through his airways, and he rose.

"How… how am I alive?" Harley asked weakly. "I was supposed to die… I wanted to die."

"Your SOUL refused." Asgore told him grimly. "It seems that it is not yet your time to die."  
"It sure would have made my life easier!"

Asgore and Harley glanced down towards the barrier and saw Flowey sitting there, a wide grin on his face.

And the SOUL containers…

"Are with me." Flowey said, seemingly reading Harley's thoughts. "All I need is one more."

Asgore bared his teeth, and readied his trident, preparing to charge forwards. But before he could move, a large vine shot out of the ground and slammed into the center of his chest.

Without a sound, Asgore faded into dust, his SOUL shattering a few moments later.

" _No!"_ Chara screamed.

More vines began to erupt around Harley, surrounding the two of them in a wall of growth. One particular vine snaked out, Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk entangled in its arm.

"You see, I  _brought_  these guys in case I needed their SOULs. However…" He released the three of them. "I think I am going to enjoy  _ **killing**_  all four of you at once!" He laughed maniacally, and vanished, a large television sitting where he once was.

Frisk facepalmed. "This again." she muttered, as she watched as Flowey began to transform into a monster of nightmarish proportions. His vines swelled and grew, two snaking up to the ceiling, and two changing form into two massive "hands" with spikes on the end. Out of his television, he began to grow tubes, six looping around him, surrounding two eyes that had grown out of nowhere, and the rest shooting upwards, connecting him to the ceiling, and lifting him up. Lastly, a narrow, pinkish snout with two eyes, one on each side, grew out, most of which was the mouth, which had layer upon layer of teeth.

Omega Flowey gazed down at them and began to laugh, his horrifically evil voice filling the room. He gazed down at Papyrus, who was standing over-

" _Sans's clothes?"_ Harley asked in shock.

" _Sans only has one hp. I imagine that Flowey wasn't too gentle with him."_

Harley growled. " _Time to slay a demented flower, then."_

"Aww, do you miss your brother?" Flowey simpered. "Don't worry, Papyrus. I can show you where he is."

"Y-YOU CAN?"

"Yeah, just come here!  _Stand in front of_ _ **me**_ _."_  Flowey's voice jumped from friendly to demonic and with every word, Harley can clearly hear how powerful he truly was.

Papyrus hesitated, glancing at Harley, and stood, walking in front of Flowey. He pulled off his sword and tossed it to Harley, who caught it.

"Pap, no!" Harley yelled, but he was too late. Flowey shot down, snatching Papyrus up in his jaws, and began to chew. Papyrus's scream of pain was cut short, and dust began to trickle out of Flowey's slavering jaws.

"Wow." Frisk commented. "That was brutal."

Flowey burped. " _ **Who's next**_?"

Harley unsheathed his sword. "I'm going to kill him."

"You might want to watch out!" Frisk shouted, and the two of them began to run as Flowey began to launch volleys of bombs at them, following up with shooting fire at them. The fire scorched a bit of Harley's arm, but he ignored it. Reaching Flowey's massive arm, he swiped at it, only for his sword to barely graze his skin.

Flowey chuckled, and a large warning appeared on the screen, an image of the Soul of Patience flashing on the screen. Then, Flowey vanished.

In his place, a blue Soul floated in front of Harley, and Frisk was gone from his side, probably dealing with her own Soul.

Knives began to fling themselves at Harley, who dodged to the side, avoiding them. Eventually, he saw could see the faint image of a child crying in the distance.

"Please! Stop fighting!" He cried out. "I want to help you!"

The head perked up, and he swore he could see her smile. An image flashed past his mind, of a woman wrapped in black and white holding a spear with one of Sans's cannons floating above her (strangely, he couldn't see Sans) before he heard a faint " _Thank you."_ whisper in his mind, and the soul vanished, only to be replaced by the dark blue soul of Integrity.

Harley gritted his teeth, and Chara spoke in his mind.

" _You ready?"_

" _Hell yeah."_

* * *

Frisk groaned as the Soul of Kindness appeared.

She had already dealt with the Souls of Bravery and Perseverance, both of which seemed to be reluctant to accept her aid.

She didn't care. She just needed to kill Flowey so she could finish off Harley.

The familiar frying pans appeared above her, raining down their contents onto her. She easily dodged them, and yelled out, "Stop your shit, child! I'm trying to help!"

The Soul stopped attacking, but something happened. It floated down and took on the shape of a young girl, which gazed at her.

"Frisk, you are cruel and brutal, and yet you call on the power of Kindness. What makes you think I will help? That any of us will help? You are no better than the God who controls us!"

"You will help me because I told you to." Frisk answered arrogantly. "You will help because  _I_ am the superior being in the Underground, not Flowey."

The Soul of Kindness shook its head. "You are wrong. I will be helping, but I won't be helping you. I will be helping the other Soul of Determination, who has rescued the fragment of the first human from her Hatred. Who tried to give his life to save a race."

"He's a fool, child."

"No, Frisk. You are a fool. And you will realize it soon. And one day, when you hold the one you love in your arms, remember this - No matter what you do, you shall never be happy, for I will prevent it. There is no redemption possible that makes up for all of the pain you have caused."

Frisk scoffed. "Just hurry up, child. We have a flower to slay."

The Soul of Kindness vanished, and Frisk appeared in front of Flowey, who was trying to get Harley off his head.

"Oh, there you are!" Flowey cackled. "Now I can kill you both!"

"Think again!" Frisk cried, and she began to dodge Flowey's attacks, racing for his arm-

Until Harley slammed his sword into Flowey's head, penetrating the television. An explosion launched Harley off of the set, and Flowey cried in pain.

"Nooo! How could you do this!" He shouted. "How could you-!"

" _Be so_ _ **absolutely**_ _stupid!"_

They both appeared in front of Flowey, who had a troll faced grin on his smug little face.

"Did you really think that would work?" Flowey cackled. " _ **Die."**_

A beam shot out of Flowey's mouth, and slammed into the both of them, killing them instantly.

* * *

Vines impaled them, their blood splattering everywhere.

* * *

Laser.

* * *

Vines.

* * *

They were pulled into Venus flytraps, screaming as they died.

* * *

Flowey swallowed them whole, forcing them to see as they were forced down his slimy throat.

* * *

Flowey slammed his plant hands together, impaling and squashing the two of them, leaving two stains of blood and gore on his hands.

* * *

Another laser beam annihilated them.

* * *

Vines.

* * *

Venus Flytrap.

* * *

Flowey moved quick, biting them cleanly in half, and began to chew slow, making their last sights his horrific teeth.

* * *

He hailed bombs on them, spreading their limbs everywhere.

* * *

Flowey hit them with his flames, laughing as they screamed until they were nothing but piles of ash.

* * *

Flowey watched them, cackling as he surrounded them with his "Friendliness Pellets." "It's time to  _ **die,**_  kids." He laughed maniacally as the pellets grew closer and closer, and right before they hit-

They disappeared.

Flowey looked confused. "Wait, what happened?"

Of of his body, the six souls he absorbed floated out of his body, and began to spin around him. The room began to shake, and Flowey's howls filled the air.

"No!  _No!_ This can't be happening! No! What are you doing!  _You we supposed to obey me!"_

There was a huge flash of white, and then, nothing.

* * *

When Harley and Frisk could see again, they were standing in front of a broken, beaten down Flowey. His head was slumped over, and he had petals missing.

"...go ahead. What are you waiting for? Finish it." he told them.

Frisk didn't wait. She took a step forward, and stamped on Flowey, reducing him to ash.

Harley seized her arm. "The hell are you doing!" He shouted.

Frisk punched him in the chest, making him release her and stumble back. "What I always do, Harley. This changes nothing!" She picked his sword off the ground, and strode over, impaling him on the blade. "I still hate you, Harley. I still wish you were dead!" She ripped the blade free and dropped it. Harley fell to his knees, and Frisk turned away.

"I know you may be thinking I lost Harley. That if you don't RESET, I can't ever return. And you'd be right. All I can do is go to the surface. But I still won, Harley. I killed you, and my actions lead to Papyrus and Sans being killed. I no longer need to worry."

Harley struggled to stand, grabbing the sword that she had dropped as she rambled.

"And who knows what I will do from there? Thanks to you, I just need LV to use magic so I will be the strongest human on the surface! So I just need to kill some humans, and gain some LV! Sounds easy enough, right! I will become what I was always meant to be, Frisk, the Goddess of this World!" She laughed, and turned to face Harley. She was shocked to see that he was right behind her, with the blade aloft.

"Heads up!" He shouted, and he swung the blade like a baseball bat, decapitating Frisk for the second time in two timelines. Her body and head fell to the ground, and Harley dropped the sword, falling to his knees.

" _You need to RESET, Harley. You are dying."_

Harley nodded, coughing up blood. He weakly summoned his options and hit Reset.

* * *

_The Void._

_Harley looked around and was welcomed by the now-familiar room. The one where he always met Chara._

" _Harley!" Chara ran over and hugged him. "I was worried you wouldn't return!"_

" _Yeah, so was I." Harley replied, putting an arm around her. "I seem to be that one Glitch that refuses to go away."_

" _Yes, you certainly are a stubborn one." Gaster's voice spoke out of the abyss. "Now, Harley, you have succeeded in one of the tasks I handed you. Now, you still need to complete the next."_

" _I am aware, Gaster. But…" Harley glanced at Chara and noticed something different about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was._

" _No time to dilly-dally. She resides in your head, and you two can speak another time."_

" _He's right." Chara told Harley._

" _I know…"_

_Chara laid a hand on Harley's chest._

" _I will help you, Harley. I will guide you as you complete this Pacifist Route." Her brown eyes flashed with Determination._

" _Brown!?"_

" _Chara, your eyes, theyre… brown?!"_

_She smiled. "Yes, they are. They were only red because of the overflowing Determination inside me and controlling me. It might also be the reason why yours are, too._

" _Hurry up!" Gaster snipped impatiently._

" _Okay okay, I'm going!"  
Harley pulled out his options and gazed at them. Raising his hand and looking up at Chara, he saw her nod._

_Harley slammed his hand on the button, and vanished._


	26. Three's a Charm

_(Flashback)_

" _Get up, Harley!" Frisk shouted, and Harley groaned._

" _What do you want, Frisk?"_

" _Get up!" It's ten thirty!"_

" _Oh shoot!" Harley sat up and looked around. His twin sister's amused face gazed back at him._

" _You're lucky it's our birthday, or you would have had the scolding of your life!"_

" _Heh, I know, Frisk." He swung his legs over to the side of the bed, and sat up. "Wait, it's after ten?"_

" _Yeah, it is! And it's our birthday!" Frisk repeated_

" _Mom and Dad aren't fighting?"_

" _No, but that's probably because it's our birthday! Come on! " She pulled him out of his bed, and onto the floor with a loud THUD. "We're ten now!"_

" _But they've been fighting over money!" Harley objected. "And Dad hates us! Remember what he did to us!"_

_Frisk patted Harley's head. "I am perfectly aware of all of this, and that he hates us with a burning passion. But it's our birthday, and mom likes us, so let's go have some fun!"_

_Harley smiled, trying to pick up on some of Frisk's optimism. "Alright. We can have some fun."_

_Harley stood up, and he and Frisk hugged. "Happy birthday!" They both cried out, as was their tradition. They then shook hands, fist bumped, fist pounded, did jazz hands, and promptly slapped each other ten times._

_As was their tradition._

_The two of them laughed, and walked out of the room, heading for the kitchen._

" _I hope we share a room forever!" Frisk cried out. "Then the first thing that we will see every year will be each other!"_

" _Now don't be too hasty." Their father walked into the kitchen, and smiled. Frisk and Harley froze, for this man only smiled before doing something horrible to them._

_Instead, he just knelt down and patted them both on their heads._

" _Happy birthday, children. Enjoy it."_

" _Oh! Hello, kids."_

_Their mother had just walked in. This woman seemed totally oblivious to what their father did to them, so she never understood why they were so afraid of him. Instead, she focused all of her time on different little projects, seeking fame and glory in everything that she did._

_As of right now, she was keeping her latest project a secret, with no one except their father knowing what it was._

_Frisk and Harley didn't really care or notice, They were too busy trying to be kids, and stay away from their dad._

" _Happy birthday kids!" she said cheerfully. "Your father and I have to run off to do something, so we won't be here today! So you will have the house to yourselves!"_

_Harley and Frisk glanced at each other, excited. The entire day, just the two of them! It was the best gift that they could imagine._

" _Food is in the fridge." Their father told them, that creepy broad smile still on his face. "And don't worry, I promise all the arguing's done. From now on we won't have money troubles."_

" _Why's that?" Frisk asked curiously._

" _Don't worry yourself about it." He laughed. "Come on darling, it's time to go."_

_Frisk and Harley had an amazing day. With their parents gone, they ran around, playing games and eating candy and snacks until they felt ill. Then they would run around some more, repeating this cycle until they passed out on the living room floor._

_When Harley woke up the next morning, he stretched, and rolled over gazing towards his sister's bed._

_It was empty._

_This was a cause for concern, for her blankets weren't even on the floor, like they would've if she had rolled out of bed in the morning._

" _Frisk?" He called out, and walked downstairs. "Frisk, where are you?"_

_He walked into the living room, where his father sat with a police officer._

" _Where's Frisk?" Harley asked._

" _I don't know, Harley!" his father shouted. "Go to your room!"_

_Harley stood his ground. "Where's my sister!?" He shouted back._

_The officer stood up. "What is your name?" he said kindly, walking over to Harley_

" _My name's Harley. Where's Frisk?" Harley asked the man._

" _Harley, please go to your room. Your father will be up in a moment to tell you."_

" _But-"_

" _Now, please."_

_Harley grumbled and turned away without a word. As he passed his parents room, he heard his mom's voice._

" _...and since Frisk was sold, we will become famous. We'll be the people whose kid vanished, never to be seen again. Not to mention how much we made…"_

" _Mom?" Harley walked in. "Mom, where's Frisk?"_

" _I don't know, son." She replied, not looking at him. "Go to your room, Harley."_

" _Mom, why'd you say Frisk was sold?"_

_His mom stiffened, and stooped over. When she stood, she had a rag in hand._

" _Harley, your sister was kidnapped."_

" _But you said-"_

" _She was kidnapped, Harley." His mom said stiffly. "And I'm dealing with enough right now. Here, take a whiff of this. It will help you relax."_

_She forced the cloth into his face, and he breathed in, and immediately felt dizzy._

" _Goodnight, son." was the last thing he heard before he blacked out._

_(Flash End)_

* * *

"And here we are again, Harley."

Harley opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of Frisk standing over him, her red eyes boring into his.

Harley sat up and glared at his sister. "We'll come back here as many times as necessary, Frisk, No matter what plot you come up with, I'll stop you."

" _As will I"_ Chara agreed.

" _She can't hear you._ "

" _Shhh. You can._ "

"I know, Harley. This is the second time you dragged me back here, and even at full power, I still couldn't stop you." She outstretched her hand to Harley, who cautiously took it, allowing her to pull him to his feet. "I want to talk."

"Why should I listen, Frisk?" Harley asked her, "You've proven, time and time again, that you'll kill to get what you want. How do I know you aren't trying to fool me now?"

"Because killing you won't do anything. You will just come back again. You a Glitch, and yet you seem to be embedded now; as permanent of a part to this world as I am, and Chara. So please, Harley. Give me a chance."

" _I don't trust her_." Chara told Harley.

" _I know I shouldn't either… but I want to give her a chance. Regardless of everything, I remember her as my sister._ "

" _Harley-_ "

"Fine." Harley told Frisk. "Talk."

Frisk sat cross-legged in the flowers, and motioned for Harley to follow suit, who, after a brief hesitation, did.

"Harley, I don't know how or why you got here." Frisk admitted. "I've spent plenty of timelines wishing that you weren't. And yet… more and more, the memories of my past, the version that you weren't around, are fading. You're becoming more… real? As an actual part of the timestream. I can't remember why I really came here, Harley. All I can remember is that up there, at the entrance of the hole above us, you and I leaped to what we thought was our deaths as we tried to flee from the people that tortured us. The men and women who forced you to watch as they used me as some sort of sick toy, and branded you when you couldn't muster the strength to fight back."

" _Harley, I can feel the rage flowing through your mind. How much of this is true_?"

"...Those men did things that we swore to never speak of." Harley muttered. "We both know that they did a lot more than cut us open."

Frisk nodded. "I know. My point is, Harley, that you may have started out as an accident, but the timestream itself, not just the timeline, is making you a real part of it. Which means-"

"We're actually siblings. And that I've broken my promise to never hurt you."

"Which was my fault, Harley. I too, have been hurting you, over and over again. But now, I wish to fix my mistakes."

"What are you asking for?"

"A second chance. Please, let me help you, and allow me to redeem myself."

" _Don't do it, Harley_!"

He sat quietly.

"... You've caused me unimaginable pain, Frisk."

"I know Harley, and I'm-"

"You've proven yourself to be a capable liar, too."

"But-"

"Shut up."

" _Harley-_ "

" _You shut it too. Let me think_."

Harley sat in silence, as Frisk watched him, her face expressionless.

" _Chara, I'm giving her the chance_."

" _I knew you we going to say that_." she sighed. " _Just… watch your back please_."

" _Hey, it's not like I'm alone with her. I have you to help me._ "

Chara chuckled. " _Indeed you do, and I will help you as much I can_."

Harley stood up and turned away from Frisk.

"Harley?" She asked softly

"You lied to me the first time I was here." Harley said quietly. "You made me believe that I was supposed to be here, and let me kill hundreds while I tried to 'protect' you. You had Chara fight for you, infecting her with more Hatred and selling your image as weak and helpless. I died, over and over again, fighting Undyne. I suffered greatly at the hands of Sans, for his every attack forced me to witness the last moments of my victims, and I felt their fear, their helplessness. And after Chara beat me, and I sacrificed my SOUL to RESET, you were forced back, forced to kill Sans yourself."

"You proceeded to do so, and after succeeding, I killed you and took Chara. I suffered at her hands, as I did my absolute best to repair the damage you did, which is an impossible task. I know she will never be free from her past, just as I will never be. I just managed to help her remember herself, and that she would never hurt monsters."

"Why are you saying all of this, Harley? I am aware of my crimes against you and Chara."

"I'm reminding you what I'm going to have to try to forgive."

Frisk blinked, unsure if she heard him properly. "F-forgive?"

"Yes, forgive." He turned to face her and stretched out his hand to her. "Everyone deserves a shot at redemption, Frisk. It's time for you to right your wrongs, and not against just Chara and I. It's time for us to free all of Monsterkind."

Frisk grasped his hand and pulled herself up off the ground. "Thank you, Harley. You won't regret this."

" _We'd better not_." Chara muttered.

"Let's go, sis."

They strode into the next room, side by side, just like they did the first time.

They were greeted by Flowey the Flower, sitting in his usual spot.

"So you two are allies now, huh?" He grumbled. "What happened to the ultimate power that you wanted, Frisk? Guess you failed at killing your brother, yet again?"

"I've given up on that, Flowey." Frisk told the demonic flower. "The timeline has integrated him into it permanently, and he and I are determined to SAVE all monsters."

"You fool." Flowey growled. "You, of all people, know the only truth of this world - It's kill or be killed! You may believe you are past it, but you will never succeed! You and your rage-prone  _brother_  will be at each other's throats before all of this is over, mark my words!"

And just like that, Flowey was gone, leaving the two of them standing there.

"He doesn't know about Chara?"

"No. He believes that Chara takes possession of my body, but only when I reach certain LV; usually after Toriel."

" _So when she wasn't killing, Flowey believed that Frisk was all alone_." Chara told him. " _He never knew that my SOUL was bonded to Frisk back then, and I'd rather that he didn't know that I am now attached to you._ "

" _I wasn't exactly planning to tell the insane flower that I have the dead princess bonded to me either, Chara_."

"Let's keep going, I guess." Frisk said, interrupting the silent conversation. "We are bound to bump into Toriel along the way since she would be heading this way anyway."

"I don't care either way, Frisk. We'll see her sooner or later. You're right though, we need to keep moving. Come on."

They headed into the next room, where they met a large group of Froggits, all of which glared at Harley and Frisk.

"Ribbit." one of the Froggits said, and hopped closer towards Harley, glaring threateningly.

" _Compliment them_."

" _What?_ "

" _Compliment them, Harley. Say that they look cute_."

" _I'm not doing that!_ "  
" _Do it, Harley! Or they will attack_!"

"Hey." Frisk spoke, her tone seductive. "What cooking, good looking?"

Harley watched as the lead Froggit began to blush.

" _It doesn't understand what she is saying, but is flattered anyways. Your turn, Harley_."

" _I refuse to seduce a Frog_."

" _So don't seduce the Frog. Just compliment it_."

"Err…." Harley quickly searched for something nice to say about the Froggit. "You have very nice eyes?"

Another Froggit blushed and hopped off. The rest of the Froggits began to follow suit, as they all realized that the two humans weren't a threat.

" _Ugh, I just seduced a frog, didn't I?_ "

" _You could've told him that his bullets were impressive, but nooooo. You complimented his eyes._ "

" _Shut up Chara. I'm new at this._ "

"You know, Harley, I wasn't expecting you to take after me when it came to sparing monsters. I always thought you would be the 'oh that's cool,' type."

"Shut up, Frisk."

She chuckled. "That went loads better than last time. Now we should have less trouble with going through the ruins, seeing as we didn't, you know, slaughter an entire species of monsters."  
"Yeah, hopefully."

* * *

And she was right.

With the exception of a few monsters here and there in every room (all of which Frisk flirted with or danced with until they left them alone) everything went off without a hitch, as they solved the puzzles along the way with ease. Conversation between Harley and Frisk was light, mostly just Harley and Frisk lightly joking about all of the monsters they encountered, and Frisk's odd approach to each one.

They did not see Toriel and had just arrived at the cave that housed her home.

"Y'know, I am surprised at how normal everything has seemed." Harley commented. "The last time I came through here, I wasn't interrupted. No monsters came into contact with me. It was… weird."

"Monsters always came in contact with me down here." Frisk told him. "Even when I was killing everyone, they would come, some not even realizing that I had malicious intents until it was too late. Even last time, although last time I kinda walked through the Ruins without paying attention to anyone. I was too distraught over my broken button."

"And you escaped unscathed?"

"Yeah, somehow."  
"Who is speaking out there?" A familiar voice rang out, and Toriel stepped out of her house. "Oh!"

Harley lifted a hand and casually waved at her. "Hello."

"Are you okay, humans? How long have you been wandering around down here?" She ran over to them, and began to fuss, checking the rips in their clothes.

" _Why are your clothes ripped, Harley_?"

" _When the timeline RESETs, it brings me back to the original timeline that I fell down here, remember? And I came down here while escaping from captors, so of course they're ripped._ "

" _Well, now Toriel is going to think that someone attacked you, and she is going to go nuts._ "

" _Oops._ "

"Who did this to you, dear child?" Toriel asked, her tone suspiciously calm. "Tell me, so I can go and have a conversation with them."

"It was the humans that chased us." Frisk told her. "Surprisingly, the humans are more monstrous than the monsters themselves."

"You were chased here? Why?" Harley watched as Frisk's gaze became distant, and she seemed to freeze up, unable to speak. Toriel lightly tapped her upon the shoulder. "Hello?"

"We'd rather not talk about it." Harley put his arm around Frisk's shoulder. "Is it possible we stay the night?"

"Of course!" Toriel responded, turning around. "In fact, you can just stay here! Follow me." She hurried into the house.

Harley nudged Frisk, who didn't respond.

" _The hell? Has she ever done this before?_ " He asked Chara.

" _No. I don't know what's wrong with her_." Chara responded. " _Slap her_?"

" _I could just carry her in, Chara_."

" _If you do that, Toriel will go nuts. I promise you that_."

" _Surely that's better than hitting her_."

" _Uh, no. If you let her see Frisk like this, you will have a much harder time in leaving. Besides, you're saying you haven't wanted to hit Frisk? Even just a little bit?_ "

" _Ugh, fine."_  Harley backhanded Frisk without another moment of thought.

"The hell, Harley!"

"Wake up! You stopped talking mid-sentence, and you've just been staring into space!" He hissed at her, trying to keep his voice low.

She rubbed her cheek. "Doesn't mean you should've slapped me." She complained.

"In many ways, you deserved it. Come on." Harley strode forwards, with Frisk right behind him.

* * *

"Hello, children!" Toriel greeted them cheerfully. "Come, I will show you to the bathroom, where you may clean yourselves. Then, I will show you to your rooms!"

Gesturing for them to follow her, Toriel hurried off, going fast enough that Frisk and Harley had to jog to keep up.

"Here we are!" She smiled at them brightly. "Hurry and cleanse yourselves, I can tell that you are both really tired!"

"Toriel, wait." Harley, grabbing her arm to stop her from running off. "Is it possible that you have a jacket that fits me? Preferably black?"

"And a thicker sweater for me?" Frisk asked hopefully. "It's kind of cold."

"Hmm…" Toriel examined the two of them. "Yes… let me see what I can do. Stay in the bathroom until I return."

She turned and began to walk away.

Frisk held open the door and gestured for Harley to enter. He walked in,and Frisk shut the door behind them, carefully locking it to prevent anyone from entering.

"Just like last time." Harley commented. "The two of us in this one room."

"Yeah, except it's actually me this time." Frisk replied. "And we aren't washing off dust this time. Just dry blood and dirt."  
They both walked to the sinks on the opposite sides of the room and began to strip, cleaning themselves off.

" _Looking good_." Chara commented.

" _Why are you peeping, Chara?_ "

" _What? Me having a - nevermind._ "

Harley chuckled. " _Having a what, Chara?"_

" _I said nevermind!_ "

Frisk glanced back at Harley and felt a twinge of jealousy when she heard him chuckle. " _I miss having Chara_." Frisk thought, " I  _loved having her around, even when she went dark. Her sarcastic quips made me laugh_."

Frisk peeled off her bra and continued to scrub herself. " _Wow, I haven't actually had time to sit and think about everything that has happened. I mean… I guess that there isn't much to think about. I'm doing what I have to do to survive, even if I'm doing this to retrieve Chara._ " She smiled and continued to clean herself.

Harley sat still, gazing blankly at the floor in front of him.

"Frisk?" He called out, turning to face her.

She turned, and he covered his eyes. "Agh! Where's your clothes!?"

"I'm cleaning myself, dude. That means everything, Mr. Underpants."

"I wasn't about to whip my dick out with my sister in the room!"

Frisk shrugged. "It's not something I particularly care about. I've seen it dozens of times. We did sleep together in the same room, after all. They didn't always leave us with clothes."

She walked forwards and pulled down Harley's hand. "Besides, you know you like what you see."

"Frisk!"

" _As if_!" Chara shouted indignantly.

" _Chara, shut up_!"

"Frisk, you're my sister."

"Come onnnnn."

"Why is it that both times I've been in here, someone's tried to seduce me?"

Frisk shrugged. "It was worth a try. You did kiss me before, after all."

"I was not in of sound mind."

"Doesn't matter. You kissed me." She chuckled. "Live with that."

Harley shook his head, attempting to erase the last few minutes of conversation from his mind.

" _Good luck with that._ "

" _I really don't like you at the moment, Chara_."

" _You are stuck with me. Get used to it_."

" _Fuck off_."

"Anyhow, Frisk, why did you freeze up?"

"I'm not sure." She replied. "I felt the memories flooding back to me when Toriel asked me that question, and the next thing I knew, you had slapped me. Which I will get back at you for… in my own way."

" _That means she's gonna 'Spare' you_."

Harley shook his head. "Oh hell no, you deserved that."

"And you don't want to slap me some more, big brother?" She whimpered.

"I hate you so much." There was a knock on the door. "Oh my god, thank the heavens." Harley walked over and unlocked the door. Toriel opened it, her eyes shut tight.

"I brought you guys some clothes!" she shouted

Harley grabbed the two stacks. "Thanks, Toriel. We'll be out in a moment!"

Harley turned around and chucked the stack that had a purple and blue sweater in it at Frisk.

"Here you go, lewd. Put your clothes on."

Frisk chuckled and did as he said. Harley began to pull his own clothes on, and saw that, in place of his black and white sweater, she had given him a white T-Shirt, and on his request, a black jacket with a hood. He pulled it on and was surprised by how comfortable it was.

Frisk walked over an gazed at him.

"Sweet jacket, broseph. Looks good on you."

"Thanks, Frisk. I see you're sticking with the standard purple and blue."

"You don't mess with the classics. You just don't do that."

Harley let out a dry chuckle. "Alrighty then." He stepped forwards and opened the door, stepping out to meet with Toriel.

"Do you like your clothes?" Toriel asked anxiously.

"Yes, I do. They are quite nice… Mom." Frisk told her, her words slow and hesitant.

Toriel blinked. "Did you just call me… Mom?"

Frisk nodded. "W-well, I never had someone who did this sort of thing for me…"

"You poor thing… " Toriel sympathised. "You may call me mom, if it makes you happy. And I will be your mother, young ones. Come with me, and I will lead you to your rooms." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and walked to the next room. Frisk followed her without a second thought and left Harley standing there, confused.

" _Uh, get a move on, shit for brains_."

Harley walked after them, still quite confused.

"In here, humans." Toriel commanded. "Get some rest." The two of them walked in, and Toriel shut the door behind them.

"Mom?" Harley asked Frisk.

"She likes to feel wanted, despite the fact that we are leaving tomorrow morning."

"So breaking her heart is the Pacifist way?":

Frisk shrugged. "Apparently." She jumped into her bed. "Remember what I told you when we were kids, Harley? That we would always share a room?"

"What about it?" He asked, lying down in his own bed.

"Looks like we are still doing that." she smiled at him. "Secret handshake?"

Harley didn't respond. He just rolled over on his side. " _See you soon, Chara_."

" _You sure you don't want to just sleep_?"

" _Nah, pull me over. I'd like to talk to you face to face for a bit, rather than all this mental shit._ "

" _Alright. See you soon then_."

Frisk rolled over to gaze at Harley.

" _I would do anything to have Chara back_." she thought. " _I miss her_."

* * *

_Harley awoke in the familiar landscape that was Chara's Void bedroom._

" _Huh, I just went to sleep in a room that looked like this." Harley joked._

_Chara gave him an odd look. "So, what's up, Harley?" She asked._

" _Nothing in particular. Just wanted to talk to you. I figured you could use some human contact after being isolated in my head all day." Harley told her, smiling._

_Her brown eyes shone in the dimly lit room as she returned his smile. "That's unusually kind of you, Harley."_

" _There's more where that came from. Come on, let's sit on the floor." he slid down onto the ground, and Chara followed suit, sitting close to him, almost shoulder to shoulder._

" _Harley, are you having doubts on trusting Frisk?"_

" _Of course I am. I don't completely trust her, and having her with me is going to make the next part of our journey really hard."_

" _But everyone deserves a second chance?"_

_Harley nodded. "Everyone. That's why I am allowing her to help, despite Gaster's wishes to torture her for all eternity."_

_Chara sighed. "Well, let's just hope you don't regret it. And while we are on the subject of Frisk, what do you think of her tactics?"_

" _For Sparing? Let's just say that I'm going to keep looking for a way to spare that doesn't emulate her."_

_Chara laughed. "You do that buddy."  
_ " _You wanna know what's bothering me?"_

" _What?"_

" _Flowey's warning. He said that Frisk and I will end up fighting again."_

" _Flowey isn't a fortune teller, Harley. Don't take what he says to heart."_

" _Still, I can't shake this feeling that I made a mistake." Harley sighed. "If there is anyone I could talk to about this, it would be Sans."_

_Chara nodded. "He is well-versed in the timelines. You can speak to him. And I want you to ask him about the thing Flowey mention last timeline, when he said that you have more determination than an ordinary person."_

" _I had forgotten about that. Yeah, I'll ask him."_

_They both sat quietly for a little while before Harley put his arm over Chara's shoulders. She looked up at him, her mouth in a thin line._

" _Human contact, remember?"_

_She giggled, and scooted over to him, leaning her head against his chest. He closed his eyes, and finally fell into regular, Void-less sleep._


	27. An Overly Determined SOUL

Harley opened his eyes to the sound of the door to his room closing.

Rolling over, he saw what made the noise - there was a plate on the floor, containing two slices of pie.

He grinned. "Toriel."

Standing, he walked over to the pies, and carefully picked up one, and began to nibble at the side.

" _Oh my god. I wish I had your tastebuds right now. I love butterscotch pie_."

"Heh." Harley put down the pie on his bed and stood up. "I'm going to talk to Toriel." Pulling on his jacket, he walked out of the bedroom. As he knew where she would be, he simply walked over to her in her living room.

"Hey, Toriel."

She looked up from her book and smiled kindly at him. "Hello, little human. How are you doing today? Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did. The bed's nice and comfy, although it's a bit weird that you have two human-sized beds in your house."

"Your sister is still asleep?"

" _Yeah, she's not going to talk about him_."

Harley nodded. "I have a question for you."

"Is it about snails?" she asked hopefully, slightly lifting the book she was reading up.

" _Really, what is her obsession over snail_?"

" _Hey! Her snail pie is to die for!_ " Chara shouted defensively.

" _Snail… pie_?" Harley asked, bemused.

" _It's delicious_!"

" _I'll take your word for it_."

"Human?" Toriel asked. "If you aren't asking about the snails, what is it you want to know?"

" _I swear to god if you ask 'how to exit the Ruins' I will beat you to a pulp next time you sleep._ " Chara threatened.

" _I already know how to exit… Chara, shut up_." Harley took a deep breath. "Toriel, how much do you know about human SOULs?"

Toriel frowned at his question. "Not too much, really. Why do you ask?"

"Do you think you can take a look at my SOUL?"

"Certainly, young human." the world flashed, and Harley's SOUL was pulled out of his body. What came out was the usual red heart, except it was now twice as large, with white cracks running all through it

" _Uh, what the fuck_?"

" _What happened to my soul!_?"

"Human, as little as I know, I am fully aware that SOULs are not supposed to look like… that."

" _Holy fuck."_

" _What in the living fucking crackhead hell."_

" _Harley, are you feeling fine?"_

" _I feel okay."_

" _You sure? Because that was the stupidest way to group those vulgarities."_

" _Chara, this is serious."_

" _So am I"_

" _Chara I swear on my SOUL that I will smack you."_

" _Oooo boy, he's swearing on his damaged SOUL! I'm so scared!"_

" _I thought you'd be a bit more nervous, seeing how your existence is attached to me!"_

" _I'm freaking out over here! This is is how I cope!"_

Harley growled.

Toriel stretched her hand out, as if to place it on his forehead "Human, are you okay? Are you feeling ill?"

"Don't call me 'human!' My name's Harley!"

He immediately regretted shouting. Toriel recoiled, her hand withdrawing slightly. "Oh… I'm sorry, Harley. You should have told me you didn't like that."

" _Apologize_!"

Harley sighed. "I'm sorry, Toriel. There was no reason for me to shout… I'm just nervous about all of this."

Toriel released Harley of her magic, and his SOUL disappeared. "It's okay, Harley, I understand. I wouldn't be mad at you anyways."

" _I'm gonna go for it!"_

" _Harley, I swear to god-"_

"Toriel, I need to exit the Ruins."

"Oh… b-but why?"

"I need to find someone who knows a thing or two about human SOULs. If this is dangerous, and I am guessing that it is, staying here would be just as deadly as leaving."

"Harley, as much as I wish I could say otherwise, you are right… Go to Hotland, and talk to the Royal Scientist… whose name I can't quite remember." She frowned. "That's quite odd. Anyhow, they should be able to help you there…"

"Thank you, Toriel." Harley said gratefully, relieved he wouldn't have to once again fight the kindly old lady.

"...you will be taking the other human with you?"

"Yeah. She's my twin sister."

"There is something off about the both of you." Toriel said, her tone cautious. "You have a damaged SOUL, and her… I don't know. How old are you two?"

"Sixteen."

"Hmm… Your sister, there is something familiar about her, and something wrong. It feels as if she missed a couple of years or something."

"That's not possible. We were born on the same day."  
"I know… That's why it's so strange…" Toriel sighed again. "Listen to this old lady babble. The exit is down the stairs across from the entrance. Take your sister and go, please, before I stop you."

Harley stepped forward and hugged Toriel. "Thank you… Mom." Her eyes widened, and the brims began to fill with tears. Turning away, he walked over to the room that Frisk was still in, and entered it.

* * *

Frisk lay in bed, pondering her own reality.

" _I know something is wrong with me, I just know it_." she rolled on her back and gazed at her hands. " _I know that Harley isn't supposed to be here, and that I was here for a long time, going through the Pacifist and genocide runs hundreds of times. And yet… I can't remember key details, including my past, my_ real  _past, the one that wasn't altered by Harley. Why did I come here? Was it by accident? Did I have a happy life that was lost to my damnation in the Underground? Did I lose the rest of those happy memories to the timeline shift? Or was my life just as bad, and just like in this timeline, did I jump in that hole to end my life? I don't know! Argh!_ " she slammed her fist into the bed, growling, just as the door opened, and Harley stared down at her.

"Hey, Frisk." He greeted her. "Everything okay? Sounded like there was an animal in here."

"Very funny."

"Get up. It's time to go."

"Time to fight Toriel?" Frisk asked, pulling on her sweater.

"No."

"We can't complete a Pacifist Route if we sneak away, Harley."

"I know." Harley tapped his head, giving her the always-painful reminder that Chara was in his head, not hers. "I convinced her not to fight, and to let us go."

Frisk gazed at him in disbelief. "I tried to convince her to let me leave at least a dozen times. How the hell did you manage to do it?"

Harley shrugged. "Guess I have more conviction than you."

"More convic-" Frisk sputtered "You're the guy whose every attempt at sparing someone has lead to semi-awkward flirting!"

"Hey, at least I'm not trying to seduce every monster I come in contact with!" Harley protested. "Besides, I can be eloquent when I want to be."

Frisk snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Harley sighed. "Come on, meet me in the area where we usually fight Toriel." He walked out, leaving Frisk to her thoughts once again.

" _It's not that I don't like him. He's a decent enough guy, and my brother now, to boot._ " Frisk thought as she laced her shoes. " _He just can't ever replace what I had with Chara. She's my best friend, and like a sister to me. I'd do anything to have her back in my mind._ "

Frisk sighed, and stood, walking out of the room to go join Harley. When she reached the stairs, she gazed down, frozen in place.

" _If I killed Toriel, I could gain LV. I could-_ " she sighed again. " _I have tried that too many times. It's not going to work, he always finds another way to beat me. Face it, either you find a new way to get Chara back, or leave her with him_."

Frisk climbed down the stairs, heading to where Harley said he would be.

"Took you long enough."

"Oh, shut it." Frisk snapped. She walked over to him as he laughed.

"Hey, you keep bugging me, time to get a taste of your own medicine."

"Fuck off, broseph." She forced a smile. "Did you think of these responses while you waited for me?"

"If I had, I would've had something better than 'took you long enough."

"Ehhh, probably not."

"Ehhh, fuck you. Come on, we have a demonic flower waiting for us."

They walked forwards together, heading for the large door that led to the outer cave.

* * *

To nobody's surprise, Flowey sat there, waiting for them.

"I can't help but notice that you didn't fight the goat." he simpered, a false smile on his petaled face.

"I managed to convince her not to." Harley told him. "It wasn't exactly hard."

"I am really growing to  _despise you_ , Harley." the little flower snapped. "You have been a pain in the ass since you arrived. You keep  _changing_ the timeline, alternating things that shouldn't be changed!"

"So you like losing over and over again, in the exact same way?"

"Well…"

Frisk laughed. "At least when you lose this time around, you'll lose in a different way, Flowey."

Flowey growled. "Screw you guys. I'm outta here." He vanished without another word, and Harley laughed.

"That was a good one, Frisk. Y'know, I never asked, but how exactly does this route end? Chara won't say."

"I'm not saying, either." Frisk told him. "I don't know if the route's ending will be different than usual. Besides," She thought hard. "I can't really remember it. That's weird. All I can remember is that has something to do with Flowey."

"Why, is it buried underneath all of the Sans fights?"

"Yeah, something like that." She admitted. "I can remember some of the details of this route, like befriending Toriel and the bone brothers, but that it, really. That's why I can only guide you. After so many Resets, it begins to take a toll on you."

"Chara says that's because you barely paid attention. She remembers it all, and is only not telling me in advance because of your first reason, she doesn't know what's different. And she wants me to experience it all blind, to get the full effect."

"Sound legit." Frisk replied. "Let's move forward, then. Don't want to waste any more time then we have."

Harley nodded, and the two of them began to move forwards. It was only a few steps to the door that lead to the Snowdin Forest, after all, so they reached it in no time.

Frisk pushed open the door and stepped out first.

Which meant that she was completely blindsided by the large animal skull that appeared in front of her.

"heya, human." Sans greeted her. "did'ya miss me?"

With a loud hum, the blaster quickly charged and Sans grabbed her Soul, freezing her in place. He summoned a wall of bones behind her, forced her on it, and spoke.

"time for breakfast, frisk." he told her "now serving, one extra-special  **bad time**." He closed his fist, and the Gaster Blaster fired, the hostile magic pouring into her until she blacked out.

Harley heard Sans's voice, and the familiar sound of a Gaster Blaster pouring energy into the wall of bone.

"No, Sans!" He shouted out, slamming his fists into the bones. "Sans! Stop!"

The energy stopped, and the bones lowered. On the other side was Sans, looking mighty pleased with himself.

"oh heya, harley. Didn't see ya there." he greeted him as he used his magic to toss Frisk several yards behind him.

" _Hey, Sansy._ " Chara greeted him.

Sans froze in place. " _did'ya hear that_?"

" _Wait_ -"

"Later" Harley snapped, and he jogged over to Frisk, almost accidentally bumping into Sans, who leaped backwards in an attempt to dodge him

When he reached Frisk, he knelt over her body and began to check for a pulse.

" _Is she dead_?" Chara whispered.

He shushed her, and kept feeling for a pulse. He finally got a weak response, and sighed in relief, only to be alarmed by the hum of a Gaster Blaster behind him.

"are you harley, harley? or are you rarley?"

"Rarley?"

"A weak pun, rage boy." Chara murmured softly.

"I am Harley, Sans." He snapped. "And you blasted my sister!"

"y-your…" He sputtered, astonished. "if i remember correctly, ms. 'god of the world' here was trying desperately to kill you. how in the hell did you two end up traveling together, much less repeating the whole 'siblings' act?"

"There's been a change in the timeline." Harley snapped. "Aren't you the guy who pays attention to this sort of shit?"

"well, it's not like I had time to look at any sort of data." Sans retorted. "i woke up and came over here, anticipating that you wouldn't be alive anymore. it's about time that the timeline got sick of you messing all this shit up, making changes to everything you touch."

"Sans, you just changed the script yourself. Coming here and attacking Frisk? You don't do that normally."  
"yeah, well… i'm sick of seein' everyone i care for die at the hands of this monster." He gazed down at Frisk, disgust evident in his bony face. His gaze shot up to Harley, and his eye flashed, the Gaster Blaster once again charging and preparing to fire. "explain, before i blast ya both into oblivion."  
Harley growled angrily. "I'm not doing shit until she's had medical attention. Your recklessness has caused enough damage."

Sans let loose a predatorial grin. "kid, you are in place to be issuing commands. last warning. explain, now."

Harley stood there, thinking quick. "So tell me this, Sans. Didn't Toriel ask you to protect two kids last night?"

"she did, and i will find it in me to forgive myself after this ice cold betrayal of trust. still not gonna talk?" Harley stood quietly, and glared at Sans, who shrugged. "you know what you're doin' is pointless if you die, right?"

"I control the timeline."

Sans shook his head, and the world turned retro.

"you haven't saved, dipshit." his voice boomed out.

" _Shit_!"

Harley fell to his knees as all of the air was sucked out of him.

" _Can't… breathe…_ " he said to Chara.

" _I know! I'm using up energy to keep your soul from being seen_!" She shouted. " _It's preferable that you die, rather than he sees -_ "

Chara let out a sound of pain, like she was punched in the gut.

"i knew it." Sans said, staring down at Harley. "you still have chara runnin' around in there, don't you? seems like she's able to interact with your soul, which i find quite odd, since you have no LV." His skeletal brow furrowed, and with an audible grunt, he pulled Harley's soul right out of his body, the gravity magic turning it blue. As soon as he saw Harley's soul, however, his eyes vanished in shock, and his magic faded, the already present Gaster Blaster falling to the ground with a thud before fading.

" _Sorry, Harley, I tried. He's much more experienced in magic than I am_."  
Harley didn't respond, still watching Sans as he gazed at Harley's soul with morbid curiosity.

Sans allowed Harley's soul to drift back into his body, along with Frisk's, and he stared at Harley, dozens of unspoken questions clearly racing through his mind.

Instead of asking them, he simply held out his hand to Harley, which Harley grasped, allowing Sans to help him up.

"is it because of chara?" He asked.

"I don't know. I had her with me in the previous timeline, and this didn't happen, so I don't think so? It could be because of the timeline change."  
"you still haven't told me what changed, kid." Sans replied, clearly frustrated.

"Heal her." Harley retorted, pointing at Frisk. "Then we can talk. I do have some questions of my own."

"you know my green magic isn't the best, kid."

"You just have to get her conscious. Then I can feed her some Monster Candy."

Sans frowned at him. "don't blame me if her soul ends up like yours, kid." placing a hand on her chest and closing his eyes, Sans could feel the flow of magic channel through him and into her, draining him in the process.

1.

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

He cut off the magic there, and coughed, feeling drained.

"alright, kid, that should do it." he coughed again, and stood, watching as Harley knelt beside Frisk.

"Frisk!" Harley shook her. "Frisk! Get your lazy ass off the snow!"

Her eyes opened in thin slits, the red shining through them. "R-really?" she choked out.

"Eat." Harley placed a Monster Candy besides her mouth, which she accepted.

Sans checked his HP again. " _you better be fuckin' worth it_." He thought, glaring at Frisk. "hey, harley, care to cough up one of those candies?"

Harley turned his head and gave Sans an odd look. "Why? You haven't taken any damage."

"eh, i love those candies. besides, it's the least you can do after i healed your sis."

"You mean from the damage you caused?"

"uhhh…. yea?"

Harley shook his head in disbelief. "Wow. Whatever, have one." He tossed one to Sans, who deftly caught it.

"thanks, kid." He unwrapped the candy and ate it, watching as his HP rose.

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.

" _i hate healing_."

Frisk sat up and glared at Sans.

"You fucker, you could have killed me!"

Sans shrugged. "i was trying to. be glad you don't have any LV, or it would've."

"What's the difference?" Harley asked.

Sans looked at him. "do you not remember our fight? Every time i hit ya, you took damage from KR."

"The Karma? It just gave me flashbacks."

Frisk shook her head. "You didn't pay attention at all during that fight, did you?"

"Well, I was fighting!"

"it was an unusual fight, too. we had an actual conversation while fighting, unlike the dead silence you give me while tryna slay me. "

"Fuck off, bastard."  
Sans's eye sockets went vacant. "look, do you want to have a bad time? because this is how you have a bad time."

"You have killed me dozens of times! Do you expect me to be friendly to you?"

"dozens? more like hundreds." His blue eye flashed into existence once more. "you lookin' for another?"

"You two are insufferable." Harley declared and stood between them. "Look, no one is killing each other, Sans. And Frisk, you literally were asking for it every time he killed you. So for the sake of this route and my sanity, just get along and fucking shut up!"

" _Oof._ " Chara whispered.

Sans and Frisk glanced at each other, the hatred they felt for the other evident in their gazes. A moment passed, and neither spoke. Then another. And another. And finally…

Sans shrugged his bony shoulders. "whatever."

Frisk crossed her arms and looked away. "For you, Harley."

"now, harley. our deal?"

Harley gestured forwards. "Let's walk as we talk."

"Why walk? He can just bring us to his home."

"Don't we have to meet Papyrus?"

"eh, pap will be friends with ya, regardless where you meet him. i'd normally have you go through his puzzles, but this is important." Sans held out both of his hands. "hold on."

Harley reached out, but hesitated, seeing movement in the woods - a flash of black hair, a grey face? - but he dismissed it as one of the Snowdin teens. It had to be, right?

Frisk and Harley each grabbed one of Sans's bony hands, and they "fell" backwards into one of his shortcuts.

Immediately, Harley felt a huge, clawing pain in the center of his chest, as his windpipe constricted, and his knees buckled. When the arrived at the bone brother's house, Harley collapsed to the ground, clawing at his throat and trying to force air through.

Inside his head, he could hear Chara was in similar pain, as she cried out in pain, for it felt like her heart was trying to explode out of her chest.

" _Get it out!"_

" _Cant'! Breathe_!"

"Harley!"

"kid!"

"Do something!" Frisk yelled.

"i'm not a healer!" Sans backed away from Harley, his eye sockets having gone empty in his panic.

"You caused this!" Frisk shrieked. "Fix it!"

"i-i didn't do this!" Sans protested. "i've taken you both through shortcuts before, and this has never happened!"

Frisk grabbed Sans by his shirt and lifted him in the air. "You ugly bag of bones, if he dies, so will you!"

Sans slammed his foot into Frisk's shin, and she released him, howling in pain. "you fool." Sans growled. "you filthy megalomaniac. your brother, the whole reason you are still alive, is choking out, and you attack me? where's the logic?"

Harley rolled over, his chest now on the ground, wheezing, and Chara began to scream, the pain too intense for her to even form words. Through half closed eyes, he barely registered the sight of Frisk throwing a book at Sans, who stopped it in midair, grabbed her, and pulled her close.

Coughing, Harley could feel liquid beginning to slide out of his mouth and onto the floor as he struggled to check his HP. When he managed to pull them up, he was horrified.

10.

9.

8.5.

8.

7.9.

7.4.

7.

He slumped to the ground as he felt himself grow weaker, and, in a desperate attempt to get their attention, he tried to speak, but only managed to croak out a couple, unrecognizable sounds.

"But nobody came." Flowey cooed, as he twisted himself into Harley's line of sight. "What a pity, you will die here, never to know what is wrong with you. But I dooooo." He smiled playfully. "I know what's wrong with your soul, and I believe I know how to fix it. These fools clearly can't help you, so if you want my assistance, meet me by the tree after dark." he laughed as Harley struggled to choke out a response. "If you survive, that is. Who knows? Maybe a glitch that doesn't SAVE disappears. Guess we will find out! Good luck, buddy!" With one last grin, Flowey burrowed his way into a crack that was in the floorboards.

Harley couldn't think, couldn't breathe. The pain was too intense, and he didn't even have Chara to talk to as he died, as she was screaming in agony. Whatever was happening, it was affecting them both.

6.

Harley could hear the blood rushing in his ears as the world began to dim

Sans and Frisk continued to argue, both so focused on their nemesis that had forgotten about Harley.

"genocidal freak!" Sans roared, and summoned a Gaster Blaster.

"Oh yeah, Sansy?" She taunted him. "Got lucky hitting me once, you think you can do it again? Go ahead, fire that thing. Show me your bad time. I'm waiting!"

With a guttural shout, he fired the blaster, and Frisk dodged, the energy beam disintegrating the wall that was behind her.

5.8

Frisk ran over to the kitchen, grabbed an object off the counter, and quickly leaped out as Sans launched a volley of bones at her, all of which embedded themselves into different objects in the kitchen.

5.2

Frisk slid under another Gaster Blaster, which narrowly missed Harley, the energy beam blasting through the wall, the scorching power shaving off some of Harley's HP as it passed by.

2.5

Frisk uncapped the bottle she was holding and slung its contents across his eyes. "This is why you can't win, Sans!" She shouted as he howled in pain. "I'm one step ahead of you, and you simply can't ketchup!"

Rubbing the red condiment off his face, he glared at her. "you filthy child, using my things against me." He summoned a circle of blasters that surrounded her. "die!"

1.4

Harley, in his barely conscious state, registered the sight of the deadly cannons as a threat to his already minimal HP. He fell over rolled over, and slowly crawled his way towards the hole, only to strike a large boot.

0.9

Papyrus gazed down at him, and instantly saw that his HP was at a critical level.

Lifting Harley in one arm, he used his green magic to bring his HP to 20. But when he stopped, he saw it began to fall again.

17.

" _THIS IS WHERE THE SCREAMING IS COMING FROM_." Papyrus realized. " _BUT NO ONE IS SCREAMING. THAT IS QUITE ODD._ "

14.

The blood that had started out as a dribble was free-flowing out of Harley's mouth, pouring down Harley's face, onto Papyrus's arm, and into the snow.

10.

Papyrus removed his right glove, and placed his skeletal hand on Harley's forehead, and healed him again, bringing his HP to 20 again. He glanced in his house and saw his brother fighting a human. Neither seemed as if they actually meant the other harm.

" _THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE_." Papyrus told himself. " _THEY ARE SHOUTING OBSCENITIES AT EACH OTHER, SO I DON'T THINK THEY ARE SPARRING. BUT THEY AREN'T TRYING TO HARM EACH OTHER. THAT IS SO ODD._ "

12.

Papyrus gazed down at the human in his arms. " _HE LOOKS FAMILIAR_." he checked the HP again.

9.

" _SHOOT_!" he healed him again and watched the HP drop again.

16.

Papyrus came to a decision, and ran out of Snowdin, heading towards Waterfall.

" _UNDYNE WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO_!"

He ran to where he was supposed to meet Undyne.

Sure enough, she was there.

"Hey, Papyrus! What's your-" She gazed at the human in his arms in absolute shock.

"You caught one!"

"NOT EXACTLY. PLEASE UNDYNE, HEAL HIM!"

13

She scowled. "Papyrus, we are supposed to slay humans. If he is dying, then leave him be."

"HIS HP KEEPS DROPPING, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I HEAL HIM! LOOK!"

9

20

17

She frowned. "I see he has blood pouring out of him. Are you sure nothing hit him?"

"NOT EXACTLY. I FOUND HIM LIKE THIS, IN MY HOUSE. I HEARD A GIRL SCREAMING IN PAIN, SO I RUSHED OVER, AND FOUND SANS FIGHTING A HUMAN, BUT NOT REALLY FIGHTING THE HUMAN."

"The hell does that mean?"

"THEY WERE SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER, THROWING THINGS AND SHOOTING OFF HIS BLASTERS, AND YET I KNOW MY BROTHER IS VERY ACCURATE. HE WOULDN'T HAVE MISSED SO MUCH. AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF DEADLY OBJECTS IN MY HOUSE, AND YET THE HUMAN KEPT ONLY THROWING FOOD AND DRINKS AND THAT ACCURSED KETCHUP AT HIM. IT WAS VERY ODD."

13

"And this one?"

"HE WAS CRAWLING OUT OF ONE OF THE NEW HOLES IN MY HOUSE AND BUMPED INTO MY BOOT BEFORE HE STOPPED MOVING."

9

Papyrus glanced down and noticed Harley's HP dropping again. "PLEASE, UNDYNE! HEAL HIM!"

She sighed. "Fine. I guess we can always just bring him to Asgore alive." She knelt beside, and healed Harley.

20

15

"That's odd. My green magic can heal any wound, external or internal." Undyne frowned, deep in thought.

12

She saw the drop, and absentmindedly activated her magic again, this time keeping it flowing.

20

"The girl that was screaming, is she the one with Sans?" Undyne asked Papyrus.

"NO. SHE'S RIGHT THERE." Papyrus pointed at Harley.

"Uhh, Papyrus, this one is male. And he isn't screaming."

"THAT IS WHERE THE SCREAMING IS COMING FROM" he insisted.

Undyne shrugged and made a mental note to check on Papyrus's mental state after this. The sight he was witnessing had to be taking a toll on such a nice guy.

"Have you checked his SOUL?" she asked.

"UHH… NO?"

Undyne stopped the flow of her magic, noting that the HP dropped as soon as she stopped.

15

"Gotta be quick." She pulled out the soul, and they both let out a gasp of shock.

The soul was twice the size as normal, had white cracks running through it, and was missing a piece at the bottom.

"THAT'S NOT GOOD."

"No, it's not. Papyrus, I need you to run to Hotland and get Dr. Alphys. Tell her that it's a manner concerning a human soul, and run her to my house as fast as you can."

"YES UNDYNE." The tall skeleton shot off without second thought.

11.

" _Why am I so concerned for you_?" Undyne asked herself. " _I feel… guilty, as if I led you to harm. Or as if I failed to rescue you from a terrible fate. Ngahhh_!" She gnashed her teeth together. "You are going to wake up, human!" She shouted. "And then you will answer all of my questions!" she healed him once more.

11

20

14

She lifted him up and ran to her home.

9

4

3.2

2.7

She slammed through her front door, and charged through her house, through her bedroom door, where she gently lay Harley down.

0.2

"Fuck!" She shouted, and healed him up to full, channeling her magic into a constant flow.

20

19

20

18.8

20

" _Oh no, he's dying faster than I can heal him_!" she ground her teeth, and using both hands, she began to pour the magic into him faster.

"You won't die while there is breath in my body!" She screamed. " **Ngahhhhhh**!"

* * *

_The Void._

_Chara's screams of pain filled Harley's ears._

" _Chara!" he shouted, trying to be heard over the shrieks. "Chara, I'm here!"_

_He ran over to Chara, who was rolled into a ball by one of the bed, holding her head in her hands._

" _Chara!" He shouted. She must've heard him, because the screams faltered, and she gazed up at him, tears pouring out of her brown eyes._

" _It hurts, Harley." She sobbed, clutching at her chest. "It hurts so bad, and I can't even black out to escape the pain. Death's supposed to be the final pain, Harley. Why am I still suffering! Why!"_

_Harley said nothing, he simply wrapped his arms around her and held her while she cried in pain._

_He didn't know whose pain was being felt by both of them. He just knew that he was the lucky one right now. He had temporarily escaped the pain, but since she couldn't leave, she couldn't escape._

_Unless…_

" _Chara! Possess my body!"_

_She gazed up at him, her tear-stricken face asking the questions she could not._

" _Look, I came to your place to escape my pain, you should be able to go to mine to escape yours! That, or we'll switch places, but that's a risk I am willing to take!"_

_Chara nodded, and closed her eyes, vanishing a moment later._

_Harley waited one moment. Two. Three. Nothing changed._

" _Close your eyes." Chara's voice echoed through his mind. "And you will see through mine."_

_He followed her instructions, and he could see his own eyelids._

* * *

Chara opened her eyes to the nervous face of Alphys directly in her own.

"H-hey." She croaked out.

Alphys jumped. "Oh! H-hello there, human. I mean you no harm. I-I mean, you may not be able to tell since you are connected to all sorts of machines, b-but I swear, I am trying to help you. You see-."

"Shh." Chara told her. "I believe you. I was dying, wasn't I?"

" _This is freaking trippy_." Harley told Chara. " _And who the hell is that_?"

" _Oh yeah. You wouldn't have met her before. This is Alphys, the Royal Scientist who replaced Gaster_."

Alphys studied Harley carefully, not making a sound as they had their silent conversation.

" _How the hell did Frisk live like this_?" Harley complained.

" _No clue_."

" _Hopefully we can figure out what is wrong soon. I want my body back_."

" _You know, there was a time that I would've given anything for command over your body. It's ironic that when you willingly gave it to me, I have no desire for it._ "

Harley shrugged. " _That's life for you_."

"...So there really are two of you in there." Alphys declared, making Chara jump.

"Why would you say such an outlandish thing?" Chara asked her.

"W-well, here is the most obvious thing." Alphys started, walking over to her desk and grabbing a mirror. "I have heard plenty of descriptions of the h-humans that are walking around the Underground, but only a few of them remain consistent: Jacket and jeans, Tall, black hair, red eyes." She walked over to Chara and flipped the mirror around. "Y-you have brown eyes, h-human, so if I had to g-guess, you are the one who doesn't belong in that body.

" _She's observant_."

" _I didn't know that. Whenever she was with Frisk, she was little more than a fangirl trying to get her Senpai to notice her_."

"T-the next thing is what you are doing right n-now!" Alphys declared loudly. "Y-you stop as if you are having a conversation with the angel on your shoulder! A-and it leaves those around you feeling quite weird."

"Oops."

"And the last this is this!" She pointed over to a large, clear container, in which Harley's large, damaged Soul sat.

Chara's jaw dropped.

"From what I can tell, this soul is bursting with an abundance of determination, enough determination for two souls. These cracks are due to the straining to keep itself complete, and I am willing to bet that you took part in some sort of magical transportation these pains started. Cor-correct?"

Chara just stared at her, dumbfounded.

" _Close my mouth please_ ,"  
"How exactly did you separate my soul and body without entering combat?"

"The wire that connects to your chest, that is s-simulating the magic required to pull out a soul. You cannot leave this room, or you will die."

"Good to know." Chara replied dryly. "Here is a question for you - do you know who I am?"

"No. But I know you are a female, and that you and Harley are dead set on the trying to save all of us, but that's all."

"And how long are we going to remain injured?"

"I don't know. A chipped soul is a serious injury, one that is practically unheard of. It is a small chip, so anywhere between a few hours to a week? Determination is a fickle thing."  
Chara nodded and leaned back in bed.

" _Don't come here_." Harley warned her. " _You may return to the pains. Have regular sleep, I'll talk to you when you wake_."

Chara nodded, too sleepy to answer.

"W-who are you?" Alphys asked her.

"I'm the Demon." She mumbled and fell asleep.

* * *

Sans and Frisk collapsed side by side, both exhausted.

"...I hate you."

"i hate you too, kid."

They leaned against each other, sitting in the ruins of a barely-standing house, and fell asleep.


	28. Time to Rest

_Harley awoke in his room._

" _Where am I?" He asked himself. "The last thing I can remember is…"_

_Suddenly, the memories began to flood back to him, up to his mother putting that strange cloth in front of his face._

" _Frisk!" He shouted, and attempted to get up, only to realize that he had been tied to his bed._

" _Frisk!" he shouted again, to no avail._

_He could hear his parents voices outside, but their voices were muffled and distant, impossible to make out._

" _Help!" He screamed, his voice cracking in desperation. "Help!"_

_Now he could hear movement, as someone was sprinting up the stairs. Harley's father burst into his room, glaring at him angrily._

" _Shut up!" He hissed, slapping Harley across the face. "Or do you want to be drugged this time?"_

_Tears sliding down his face, Harley gritted his teeth, and spat, hitting his father in the eye._

_His father growled, and slammed his fist onto Harley's small chest, causing him to squeal out in pain._

" _Honey, get me the thing!" he called out._

_Harley's mother hurried in and handed him the rag._

" _No!" Harley screamed out, and began to thrash around. "No! Not again. Help! Help!" The rag covered his face, and he held his breath, trying to not breathe in for as long as he could._

_He had to breathe eventually, and when he gasped for air, his small lungs were filled with the strange drug, and he could feel the world began to spin once more._

" _Don't worry." His mother's voice cooed. "You will see Frisk again soon."_

_Harley blacked out once more._

* * *

_When he awoke, he was in a vehicle, one that was driving quickly. He was tied up and had a sack over his head._

" _Can't believe those people parted with both of them so easily." a male voice said. "They should've given them the both of us right away, if that was the case."_

" _Apparently this one was more trouble than they anticipated." Another voice spoke out, this one female. "Kept causing a ruckus, and would have gotten them in trouble. Apparently, they're twins."_

" _You know where Frisk is?" Harley spoke out timidly. "Can you take her to me, please?"_

_The male snorted. "You will see her soon, kid. But neither of you are going to be happy about it."_

" _What do you mean?" Harley asked, worried. "Is she okay?"_

" _Hell if I know, and I don't particularly care, either. I'm just paid to transport you. But if you give us any trouble," The man leaned forward, and Harley could feel his hot breath through the sack, "I will make you regret it. Understood?"  
_ " _Yes." Harley said in a small voice._

" _Good. We're almost there, kid. You will see her soon."_

* * *

_When the arrived, Harley was lifted out of the truck, and unceremoniously carried out of it. He stood silent as he was carried for several minutes until he was placed onto a chair, and the sack was taken off._

" _Harley!" Frisk's voice shrieked out, and she ran forwards, hugging him. "They got you too?"_

_Harley opened his mouth to speak, but the man who had dropped him slapped Frisk, who fell to the ground, crying out in pain._

" _I told you not to move!" He snapped._

" _Hey!" Harley protested. "Who the hell are you!"_

_The man raised his hand again and slapped Harley. "Listen here, child. You were sold to me, which means you are my property. I will do whatever I please with you two, and I have many plans. And if you ever try to escape, or harm me or those who work for me," He seized Frisk by the waist and held a knife to her throat. "I will kill her. Understand?"_

_Harley nodded, worried that he would piss off the man if he spoke._

" _The same goes for you, missy."_

" _Yes, sir." Frisk mumbled._

" _You have already defied me once, so I suppose I have to show you that I am serious." He passed Frisk over to one of the men who were standing in the shadows and snapped his fingers. The people behind Harley seized him and held him tight as the man walked over to a corner of the room, and grabbed a metal rod, which was glowing at one end. "I have to show you I am a man of my word."_

" _No! Please!"_

" _Silence!" The man commanded. "Otherwise your brother will experience worse pain!"_

_Frisk's pleas stopped, but her sobbing could be heard from the corner. In the meantime, Harley sat quiet, fearing that crying out would lead to his sister being harmed. He could not, however, stop the tears that were streaming down his face as the man approached him with the hot metal rod._

" _Take this as a lesson, kids. Failure to obey," He pressed the rod to Harley's right arm, chuckling softly as the small boy screamed in pain. "Leads to pain."_

* * *

Chara awoke, horrified by what she had just seen.

" _What in the fuck_?" she thought, sickened. " _That was Harley and Frisk? Is that their pasts? I've seen the scars on Harley's back, but I've never examined the rest of him. I've never had a reason to. But now…_ " She began to roll up his right sleeve, intending to look for a scar in the place where she saw him be branded.

" _I would prefer you didn't do that_." His voice echoed throughout her mind.

" _Am I supposed to go this entire time without looking at your body_?" She snapped.

He laughed. " _Why do you need to? Are you looking for something_?"

" _No! Harley, you can't hide this from me forever. You are going to have to tell me what happened to you in your past eventually._ "

He chuckled again. " _After you, Chara._ " When she didn't respond, he snorted. " _Exactly my point. You are so curious about me, but unwilling to talk about you. Why?"_

" _Our pasts are different, Harley. I caused so much sorrow, and you endured so much pain._ "

" _So you're telling me that you came to the Underground by accident?"_

When Chara fell silent once again, Harley continued to talk. " _I'm aware of the pain I have suffered here, but I jumped down that hole to die. So did Frisk, in this timeline at least. And I am willing to bet that you did, too._ "

" _Back off!_ " Chara snapped. " _Don't talk about who I was before the Underground._ "

" _And yet you pester me_."

" _Ugh, whatever. You should know a bit about me anyway, with Flowey spouting exposition as we went through the Capital that Genocide Route._ "

" _He was saying important information? Well, fuck. Probably should have listened to the little bastard_."

" _You weren't listening?_ "  
" _No. Didn't really care what he had to say_." Alphys entered the room where they were. " _Talk more later_." Harley fell silent, and they both waited as the reptilian monster examined his soul.

"G-good morning, you t-two." Alyphys stammered. "W-who is it I am speaking to? Harley, or the enigmatic female?"

"Well, it's not Harley." Chara answered dryly. "We still don't know if it is safe to switch back, lest we suffer that pain that we were in before."

"S-so that's how you are conscious!" Alphys cried out. "All of my t-tests said that you should be in extreme p-pain until you healed, and yet you were acting fine! It was quite confounding, to say the l-least."

"I imagine it would be." Chara heard Harley chuckle, probably at her nonchalant attitude. "So wait, we do have to stay like this until we are healed?"

"I-it does look as so."

"And how does our SOUL?"

"I-it healed a bit, actually. About a quarter grew back overnight, so I would imagine you would only have to be here another day or so."

Chara could hear Harley growling in frustration. "Alright, thanks."

"No pr-problem."

"Kid!" Undyne's voice rang through the air. "You're alive!"

She charged in, looking around. When she saw Chara sitting up, she let out a huge sigh of relief. "Had me worried back there."

" _Uh, the hell do I say? She doesn't know I know who she is_!"

" _So say that_?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know who I am. I am Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard! I'm the one who carried you here from Waterfall."

"Hi, I'm Harley." Chara waited for Alphys to correct her, but the smaller monster said nothing, just hummed as she rifled through her notes.

"How are you feeling, Kid?" She glanced over at Harley's Soul, then grinned. "Seems like your SOUL is healing!"

"I'm doing better, yeah."

"All bet to Alphys here, I bet!"

Chara smiled and nodded, unsure of what to say, but Undyne didn't seem to notice.

"Had to be one of the strangest things I've ever seen, kid. No matter how much I healed you, your HP kept dropping. Scared the crap out of Papyrus, and made me nervous as all hell, too."

"Undyne, not that I'm not grateful to you for saving my life, but isn't it your job to capture and kill humans?"

"Yeah, it is." Undyne frowned. "Papyrus practically begged me to help you, and for some odd reason… I felt as if I had done you wrong somehow. Besides, you were dying. Not exactly a fair fight, right?"

Chara nodded silently.

"And I always fight fair."

"What happened to Frisk and Sans?" Chara asked her, changing the subject."

"The two idiots seem to have an impossibly long history, seeing on how Papyrus swears that he has never see the two of you in his life. And yet, they were having what looks like a lover's quarrel." Undyne let out a short bark of laughter. "The house was destroyed by the time I got there, with Sans and Papyrus cleaning up the mess!"

"What about Frisk?"

"The human? Gone. She traveled into Waterfall. I've been following her progress, too. The last I saw her, she had… er…"

"She what?"

"What happened to Frisk, Undyne?" Chara asked, trying to sound like she was worried.

"I, uh, dropped her into a pit."

" _You what_!" Harley shouted.

"You did what?" Chara asked, this time trying to sound angry. " _She's fine, Harley. This always happens._ "

Harley growled, and Undyne shrugged.

"I have to do my job, kid. And if I'm not gonna kill you, well…"

"That's my sister!" Chara shouted.

"Sorry kid." Undyne rose to her feet. "Against my better judgement, I granted you mercy. But I still have to do my duty to my people. Monsters deserve to go free, one way or the other.

"Let me heal, and I will fight you!"

Undyne laughed, incredulous. "You humans are bold. That is quite noble of you kid, but I don't harm my friends."

"Friends?"

"Yeah. I don't know why… but something about you feels familiar. Something about all of this feels familiar. I dunno, it feels like this wasn't the first time Papyrus convinced me to spare you."

"If we are friends, you wouldn't harm my sister!"

"Harley, I really wish there was another way. I really do. But I have a duty to my people, above all else." She turned around. "Get some rest, kid. Your SOUL needs to heal." Undyne began to walk away.

"Undyne!" Chara shouted, watching as she walked away.

"C-calm down, human." Alphys said. "H-heal up, and you might be able to go after them before a-anything bad happens."

Chara growled and lied back down.

" _She's going to be fine, right?_ "

"Yeah, I'm not worried about Frisk. Be more worried that she will relapse and kill Undyne."

Chara could feel Harley's worry. " _I hadn't thought of that. Hopefully she keeps her word._ " he sighed. " _Get some rest, Chara. My SOUL needs to heal_."

"Yes, yes, I know." Chara stretched, and yelped as she was poked by a needle.

"Hey!"

"That should put you to sleep for a couple days." Alyphys said.

Chara yawned. "A couple days!"

"Y-yes. According to my calculations, two days of continuous sleep s-should be enough time to heal."

Chara's eyelids began to close. "Fuck… you…"

* * *

Frisk was running again.

Undyne was chasing her all throughout Waterfall, something that had happened dozens of times before. This time, however, it felt different. Without Chara, she didn't feel safe. Chara always guided her through every fight with Undyne, helping her deflect all the attacks. So this time around, she was worried about what she would have to resort to doing to be able to beat her.

It didn't help that Harley was missing.

It usually took Frisk only a few hours to travel all though Waterfall, but she kept hanging around in areas that she normally wouldn't, because she kept waiting for him to show up.

It had been three days since she last saw him. She hoped he was okay. Her and Sans didn't exactly offer the most help when he needed them.

She couldn't stall anymore, she was losing her patience. She had SAVED, so if something bad happened, she could always load her progress, and try again.

Harley had taken so much away from her, but at least he had left her with that.

She took a deep breath and walked over to where she knew where Undyne would be.

And to her surprise, Undyne was standing in front of the tunnel, strapping on her armor.

"Oh!" She took a step back and summoned a spear. She only had her gauntlets on, with the rest of her armor laying around her feet. "Well, human. Congratulations. You caught me off guard. NGAHHH!"

The world flashed, and Frisk's SOUL appeared, green and locked in place.

"Kid, I am sorry."

"It's your duty." Frisk gripped her stick tightly and prepared to fight.

She laughed. "I'm not apologizing to you, human. I'm apologizing to Harley, because I'm about to kill his sister!"

A volley of spears appeared behind Undyne, and she thrust her hand out, launching it at Frisk, who did her best to deflect them, only to be struck several times.

"Fight back, human!"

Frisk glared at her. "Where is my brother!" She cried out. Her SOUL changed back red, and she ran at Undyne, who grinned.

"That's more like it!" She dodged to the side and spun.

"Hey!"

Frisk ran into the cave, sprinting away.

"Get back here, coward!"

Undyne charged after her and leaped onto Frisk, the two of them rolling over each other.

"You're calling me a coward?" Frisk panted. "I have a fucking stick for a weapon!"

Undyne conjured a spear and tossed it at her feet.

"Stand and fight me, coward! Ngahhh!"  
She swung her spear a Frisk, who ducked, and rolled forward, grabbing onto the spear on the ground.

"Look, just tell me where Harley is!"

Undyne sighed. "He's receiving medical attention in the lab of the Royal Scientist. He's going to be fine, which is a much better fate than yours!" she swung at Frisk again, who blocked it, straining under the sheer force Undyne was pushing against her. She lifted her spear, and struck down again, forcing Frisk onto her knees.

"Human, if you don't fight back, you will never see your brother again!"

Frisk let out a grunt and began to attempt to push back, but to no avail. Suddenly, the weight was lifted, and Undyne stared down at her.

"Wow. You're pathetic. You aren't even trying to defend yourself from me."

Frisk rose unsteadily to her feet. "I'm not exactly used to fighting."  
"So you are saying that bout with Sans wasn't fighting?" Frisk's eyes widened, and Undyne let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I heard about that. You were more than capable to fight Sans, but you can't fight me?"

"I don't want to fight you, Undyne."

"So just die then. Save yourself the trouble, because you aren't getting through me unless you fight."

Frisk lifted up the spear. "Fine. You want to fight so badly? Bring it."  
"Ngahhh!" Undyne charge at Frisk, swinging her spear at her once more. Frisk ducked, and Undyne spun, stabbing the ground where Frisk was standing.

Only to realize…

"Human!" Undyne bellowed. Frisk laughed as she sprinted out of the cave and into Hotland, fully aware that Undyne was gaining on her. As she ran across the bridge into Hotland, she could hear the footsteps slowing, until finally…

"Ugh…" Undyne panted. "I just left this place… Need… Water…"

Frisk grabbed a glass out of the cooler. "Here. Need some?"

Undyne snatched up the glass and drank from it greedily. She stood, and glared at Frisk.

"Why are you being nice to me!" She demanded. "I'm trying to kill you!"

"I don't want you to suffer." Frisk said softly. "You are just doing your duty."

Undyne glared down at her, and spun on her heel, walking away without making a sound.

" _That went well_." Frisk thought. " _Now, time to go on a date_."

* * *

"Why haven't they woken?" Alyphys asked aloud. "They should have woken by now. Even his SOUL has healed!"

She scurried over to the bottle that contained the drug that she had given Harley. "10mg, right?"

She scanned the bottle, and dropped it.

"Oh n-no." She stammered. "T-too much!" She raced over to the machine that was scanning Harley's vitals and checked it thoroughly. "Oh, g-good. He's fine." Alphys pondered the situation for a moment, then shrugged, "Eh, a little extra sleep won't harm him, now would it?"


	29. The Storm Brews

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Following flashback contains descriptions of rape and torture. Viewer discretion is advised

_Frisk awoke in the room she shared with her brother._

_A small, simple blanket covered her, barely covering her thin frame, as she could feel the cold wind biting into her body._

_It had been four years since they had been trapped here. Four years since she was sold, and Harley followed. Four years since… they began to torture them._

_Harley got the worse physical abuse. His was covered in scars from beatings and drug testings, the man injecting him with strange red substances that seemed to make her brother stronger. When he wasn't being submitted to these acts, he was a slave, cleaning and cooking for their master._

_Frisk, however…_

_They didn't torture her as much, in sense. They told Harley it was because he listened more than she did, but really, it was because they didn't like to see so much physical damage on their "toy."_

_They didn't want to see too many marks as they raped her. As they submitted her to their pleasures._

_Harley didn't know. They told her that if she told him, they'd kill him._

_Sometimes she considered telling him, if only it meant freeing him from the pain he was going through. The beating and testings. He didn't deserve any of it, as he was only here because he refused to abandon her._

_But she was too weak. She couldn't go on without her brother, so she kept her mouth shut._

_She rolled over and gazed down at him, sleeping on the floor. Day after day, he refused to take the bed from her. Despite going through more physical torment than her, he still looked slightly healthy, as he was fed a bit better so he could keep enduring the experiments and slavery. Frisk was given the bare minimum to survive, and she was growing skinnier by the day,_

" _Harley." She whispered, sitting up. "Harley, get up. It's time to begin the day."_

_He opened his eyes at the sound of her voice, and immediately forced a smile to his face. "Hey, Frisk, how'd you sleep?"_

" _Good." She lied._

_This was their everyday. They would lie and pretend everything was okay, both acting brave for the other's sake. Neither wavering, both determined to not let the other know how shitty they actually felt._

_There was a banging on the door, and a tray of food was slid under the flap, a bowl of dry cereal and milk on it._

_Harley nodded towards it._

" _Eat." He instructed. "I'll steal scraps of food as I cook."_

" _What if you get caught?"_

" _I'll get whipped. Eat, now."_

_Frisk wanted to keep arguing, but was honestly too weak and tired to, so she did as Harley instructed. She rushed forwards, poured the milk, and quickly began to eat, knowing they only had a few minutes to do so._

_Harley walked over to her, already dressed. "Today will be a good day, I promise." He told her, and kissed her on the head._

_He walked out without looking back at her, and tears filled her eyes, as she knew her day would be anything but good._

_She finished eating, put on the simple dress that she was instructed to wear, and waited._

_And waited._

_And waited._

_But nobody came._

_At least, not for a few hours._

_Eventually, what she was waiting for happened. One of the men entered the room, holding a whip in on hand, and a drink in the other. Dropping the bottle one the floor, he gave her a crooked grin._

" _Hey, little lady." He said, grinning. "Why don't you help me out here?"_

_Without a word, Frisk dutifully walked over, and pulled out the man's dick, and began to massage it._

" _Oh, yes." The man groaned, tossing the whip towards the door. "Let's get this dress off you, no?"_

_She lifted her arms in the air and allowed him to pull off her dress._

" _Now, bend over your bed."_

_She did as he commanded, and she could feel his uncomfortably warm member poke her rear._

_Suddenly, she heard a shout of anger, and the rush of steps approaching. The man pulled away from her, and she heard him and his assailant crash to the ground._

_She spun around and was shocked to see Harley strangling the man with his own whip, tightening it more and more. The man struggled to pull off the whip, his eyes bulging out of his head, but Harley just pulled it tighter and tighter, until a loud_ SNAP  _was heard, and Harley released his grip._

" _Harley..?" Frisk said nervously, as he was just gazing down at his hands. He looked up at her, and she gasped, taking a step back. The rage that burned in his eyes was terrifying, and his expression was just as fierce. It all melted away in an instant, and he rushed forward to hug his sister, tearing off his large dress shirt to pull onto her._

" _Frisk." He whispered. "Frisk, how long have you been going through this?"_

" _The entire… time…" She sobbed, sinking into his arms._

" _Well well." The voice of their owner boomed out from the doorway. "Here you two are." He glanced down at the man on the ground, and the drink at his feet. "He was supposed to bring you to me. Fitting that his disobedience was his end."_

" _You aren't touching my sister." Harley growled through gritted teeth, pushing Frisk behind him._

" _Look, kid. I'm going to recognize the strength it took to kill that one, and despite the beating you have gone through because of your sister's 'misbehaving,' you're still fiercely loyal to her. But that loyalty is what landed you here in the first place, so I advise you to step back."_

_Harley's hands balled into fists, but he refused to move._

_Their owner sighed. "Whatever." He stepped back. "Take them to the chamber!"_

_Their bedroom was flooded by men and women, grabbing onto Harley and Frisk, dragging them along._

_Harley struggled the entire way, and ended up having to be carried through the air by each of his limbs. Frisk just quietly followed, her arms crossed over her chest._

_They entered the chamber, a room familiar to Frisk, as here was the room that she was normally tormented on. This time, however, one of the owner's associates walked her directly in front of the binding bench and left her there. Harley was carried over and forced down onto his knees, his legs being bound down, and his arms being bound on a raised block, leaving him kneeling, as if he was about to get lashed._

_A man seized her from behind, and forced her to bend over, and began to fuck her from behind._

" _Frisk! No!" Harley screamed, and he continued to struggle._

" _So you think you can resist? That you can fight back?" The man asked, "You think you are strong?" He brandished a knife and began to carve into Harley's back. "Let this serve as a reminder!"_

_Frisk was forced to watch as her brother screamed in agony as blood began to pour down his sides, pooling around his legs. The man behind her pulled out, only to be replaced by another._

" _I'm going to kill you!" Harley screamed. "Get out of my sister!"_

_The man grabbed a blowtorch. "You have your own problems to deal with!" The man began to burn and cauterize the wounds on Harley's back, stopping the blood and making sure they would scar._

" _The next time you think you can protect her, remember this." The man laughed. "Give me a whip!"_

_He walked over to Frisk and gazed into her eyes. "I love your pretty brown eyes, little girl. You better make sure your brother behaves, or they will be poked out." He walked back over to Harley, and the guy in her grunted as he released, and was quickly replaced by another._

_The owner brandished the whip, and brought it down on Harley's back, laughing maniacally. Frisk closed her eyes, unable to watch, as Harley's cries grew weaker._

_And weaker._

_And weaker._

_And stopped._

* * *

Frisk opened her eyes, covered in a cold sweat.

She sat up, the gigantic bed in the Hotland Hotel an ever-expanding sea of brown.

" _These memories are unwanted."_ She told herself furiously. " _They are painfully brutal, and they keep overwriting my real memories. And yet…"_

"heya, kid."

"Ahh! Sans!" She pulled the blanket up to her chest, only to realize that he was facing the wall.

"hehe." he laughed. "get dressed an' meet me outside. we need to talk."

"Sans-!" She shouted, but he vanished. "The nerve!" growling in annoyance, she quickly stood and dressed, and walked out of the room.

Sans stood there waiting.

"Didn't your father teach you not to enter a room without knocking?" Frisk grumbled.

Sans winced. "extensively."

"Why the wince?"

"i'm not here to discuss my daddy issues, kid. we need to talk. come with me."

She followed him downstairs, to the entrance of the CORE. "i'm gonna make your life simpler, and walk you through here, alright?"

Frisk shrugged. "I don't care. What is it you want?"

He began to walk, and she walked beside him. "are your memories changing too?"

"Yeah, they are. I can't remember what my original past was, and details about this route are fading, too."

Sans pulled out a piece of paper. "look at this." He pointed at a long line, with many lines looping back to on stop. "this is the general timeline. these loops, these are your resets. but this," He pointed at a blue line looping back. "this is where harley became part of the timeline, instead of just a glitch."

"Your point?"

"i'm telling you that our memories are only overwritten, not replaced. the line that shows harley only reaches a certain point, and is only affecting what you can recall, but not what is buried deep. so with enough effort-"

"I'll be able to remember my past?"

"essentially, yes. not that i want to, him being here has given me new found hope, hope that you had taken away."

"hey, while he is injured, i'm the one fulfilling this route!"

"not necessarily. alph, pap and undyne both see him as a friend, and mettaton knows he is a friend. toriel will come for any of ya, and asgore… it's just a matter of him getting there, no?"

"So why the hell am I doing this?"

They stopped outside of the door that led to Mettaton, and Sans placed his hand on Frisk's shoulder.

"harley mentioned that you're also seeking redemption. well, here you go." He gestured inside. "redemption."

He turned away and vanished, and Frisk sighed.

" _Here goes nothing."_

* * *

Harley stopped in front of the Hotland Resort and gazed down at his reptilian companion.

He had been traveling all day, ever since waking up in his own body, and not in the Void. Chara had switched them while he slept, as she had recognized that his SOUL had finally healed.

"So this path leads to the CORE?" he asked Alphys.

"Y-yes." She told him. "There s-should be an elevator that leads all the way through to the end."

Harley nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

A loud explosion, and Mettaton Ex appeared.

"So... as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward. I'll make your last living moments...  _absolutely_  beautiful!"

"You are soooo cringy." Frisk muttered as she pulled out a MTT-brand Starfrait.

"Ohhhh my godddd, these ratings are through the roof!"

She drank the starfait, and grinned confidently "bet you can't hit me!" She boasted as she prepared to jump.

Mettaton grinned. "Confident, aren't we darling? Well, how about you get a load of this!" Little MTT bot began to float down on her, and she jumped to the side, dodging the little bombs they were dropping.

"Told ya!" she laughed, and the crowd cheered. Mettaton gazed up, and watched the ratings raise even higher.

"This is amazing!" He cried out joyfully "Come hither, darling!"

Harley and Alphys walked into the CORE and stared at the elevator.

"What's wrong?"

"I haven't been honest with you… I'm not who you think I am…" Alphys mumbled.

"What happened, Alphys? Tell me."  
"Where I had you, that is called the True Lab. I told you not to leave the room, because you would die… but not because of your Soul."

The elevator dinged, and they stepped inside. Harley gazed at Alphys, waiting for her to continue.

"There is this machine… t-that the previous Royal Scientist made… That extracts DT from SOULs, and makes them into a usable substance… and I…"

The elevator dinged again, and the doors opened.

"Do you hear that?" Harley asked. "It sounds like…"

"Mettaton!"

They raced over to the door, which clicked opened, allowing them entry. Running in, they saw Frisk holding Mettaton, whose arms and legs had detached.

"Oh no…" Alphys covered her mouth.

"Don't worry." Frisk assured her. "He's just out of batteries. He'll be fine."

"Ohthankgod."

Harley walked over to Frisk, who smiled up at him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Better. I heard you came through, asking about me."

"Yeah. She wouldn't show me, said it was too risky. Pissed me off to no end."

"Well, I'm here now." He held his hand out to her, and she took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet and embrace her.

"I heard you have been making friends along the way."

"Yeah. It's been great, honestly. Better than… Y'know."

"I would hope so, Frisk. That is the point of all this, right?"

"Yeah." She stared at the ground. "Yeah, it is."  
"Alphys, I want to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"This DT extractor you told me about, can you control how much DT it absorbs?"  
"I-I think so."

"And you keep saying that I have an excessive amount of DT, alongside another soul attached?"

"Well…"

" _I'm awake. What's going on? What are you planning?"_

" _Listen."_

"So we can try to resurrect her?"

"I mean… is it her entire SOUL?"

"Attached? Yeah, it just lacks its own substance.

"It's really just the manner of draining and shrinking… hmmm."

"Wait, what!" Frisk exclaimed.

" _I'm with her. What is it you are planning here, Harley?"_

"She is better than the two of us, Frisk." Harley told her. "She deserves a second chance more than I do…"  
" _And if I don't want it?"_

" _Don't you?"_

Chara stood quiet. " _We will talk later."_

"I'll talk to you later, Alphys. Come on, Frisk. We need to finish this."

* * *

Frisk was silent all throughout the trek through the New Home.

" _He's going to return her…"_

"Psst. Down here!"

Frisk saw Flowey sitting on the ground.

"Look, you know what will happen next. Go along, and I'll return her to you!" Flowey disappeared, as Harley walked over.

"Flower bugging you?"

"Yeah. I threatened him with the weed whacker."

Harley chuckled. "Nice." He frowned. "We need to talk, Frisk."  
"Yeah, we do."

They walked over to a small corner in the shade, and sat down.

"Harley…" Frisk began. "You… have a beard."

Harley stared at her for a moment, before doubling over, shaking with laughter. "Oh, really? I didn't notice."

Frisk reached out and began to mess with his newly grown beard. It was an absolute mess, covering his cheeks and chin. "How in the hell did you grow this so quick?"

Harley shrugged. "I don't even know, man. I went from no facial hair to  _BOOM._  I awoke to this mess."

Frisk chuckled softly. "Well, when we get to the surface,  _shave._ "

The two of them laughed together for a moment, before quieting down.

"How much do you remember, Frisk?"

"...Bits and pieces. The latest thing I remember is how you got those wounds on your back."

Harley winced. "Yeah, those sucked." Gazing intently at her, he asked, "Nothing else?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"It's just something Toriel told me, back in the Ruins. She said that your soul felt younger than it is, which I found odd, seeing how we are the same age."  
"Yeah, that is odd. I feel like I would know if I lost a few years."

"You'd think." Harley fell silent again. "Frisk, I'm so proud of you. I never fully trusted you, and yet you've proven that you are capable of Mercy. You have proven to be the amazing sister I had."  
Frisk laughed harshly. "Yeah, we had a shitty childhood, didn't we? First our family, then those bastards, then this place."  
"The difference is that before the Underground, we have always had each other to lean on. But we spent half of our time down here either trapped, or with you being possessed by Chara."

Frisk nodded, and Harley continued, "I know to you, I glitched my way here, and I'm not technically real to you, but… I'm just happy to have my sister back beside me."

Frisk looked up at him, and smiled. "You aren't a glitch anymore, Harley. You're real now, to Monsters, to Chara, and to me." She kissed Harley on the cheek. "You're my brother now."

" _Chara, I need to figure out how to get you back."_ Harley smiled at her, and stood and turned. Frisk swallowed painfully, and rose to her feet. " _Harley… I am sorry, but you can never replace her. I need her back to me., not with you, and not reanimated. With me! I hope Flowey has a great plan. I wish I can remember how this all ends."_

" _We are almost there, aren't we, Chara?"_

" _Yeah. I wonder what will be different."  
_ " _Still not going to tell me?"_

" _No, Harley. I want you to do this yourself."  
_ " _Alright, Thought about my plan?"_

" _It sounds dangerous, Harley."_

" _I accept any risks necessary, Chara. I will."_

" _If it goes wrong, it can kill you, Harley. And if the machine takes all of your DT, you won't come back."_

" _I don't care."_ Harley said firmly. " _Look, just think about it some more. You still have more time. I just… I want to physically have you around, Chara. You deserve it."_

" _Fine. I'll think about it."_

"Harley!" Frisk tugged on Harley's arm. "We're here."

"Where is he?"

"It seems he was already by the barrier. Come, it's right through here.

They walked through, and sure enough, there he stood.

"I only needed one." He boomed out. "One Soul. But there are two of you, and you both needn't die. So the first to fall will be the sacrifice, and the other is free to go."

"Asgore, I don't want to fight you."  
"We don't have to fight, Asgore."

"I am sorry." Asgore lowered his head and lifted his trident. "It is my du- _agh!_ "

A blast of flame rocketed out, and slammed into Asgore, knocking him back.

"How dare you!"

Toriel stood before them, glaring fiercely at Asgore. "Attacking two children, how dare you!"

Papyrus rushed in. "DON'T HARM THE KID! HE BROKE ONCE ALREADY!"

"relax pap, they are fine."

"Where's the punk!"

"H-Harley help! She's carrying me!"

Harley smiled and shook his head. "Your majesty, it looks like the fight has ended as soon as it began."

Asgore said nothing, just gazing meekly back at Toriel's glare.

"Guys, why are you all here?" Frisk asked.

"pap."

"Papyrus, why did you gather everyone?"

"LET'S JUST SAY THAT A LITTLE YELLOW FLOWER TOLD ME TO."

Sans, Harley, Alphys, and Frisk froze.

"fuck."

A large vine shot through the ground, picking everyone off the ground. A large circle of bullets surrounded Frisk and Harley, who stood back-to-back, looking for a way to escape.

Flowey popped out of the ground.

"Howdy! While you were all fighting, I did you a favor, and took those human SOULs off your hands! Aren't I such a great friend?"

"Flowey, give those souls back!"

"Oh, but it's too late! And by golly, now I have your friends too, all I need to do it is kill you and absorb your SOULs, and I will be a  _god_!"

The circle of bullets began to close.

" _ **Die**_!"

Out of nowhere, a line of flames appeared, blocking the bullets.

"Stay strong, my children."

"Stay determined!"

A spear, a bone.

"Kid, if you beat me, you can beat anyone!"

"DO YOU THINK WE CAN BE FRIENDS?"  
A bone, some electricity.

"S-statiscally speaking, it is impossible to beat him, b-but somehow, I know you will!"

"still haven't beaten this joker yet? come on, kid."  
" _I swear to god Sans!"_ Chara yelled. " _If this was a Genocide Route, your ass would be out here flattening me, not acting all, 'oh, help me, i'm stuck!"_

"...i can hear ya, kid."

" _Wait, whhaa?"  
_ More monsters began to appear.

"Yeah, come on!"  
"We believe in you!"

"Stay strong!"

"Kick his ass!"

"Flexxxxxx!"

"Oh no, oh no!" Flow cried out. "I can't believe it! I can't believe…" he grinned evilly. " _I can't believe how_ _ **stupid**_   _you all are_!" He began to laugh, and Frisk and Harley covered their eyes as a blinding white light shone out. " _You're_ _ **all**_   _mine!_ "

The dust settled, and there stood a small goat.

He looked to be of about ten years of age.

He rolled his shoulders a couple times.

Then stretched his fingers.

And when he turned around, he had the friendliest expression.

"Howdy! Chara, are you there? It's me, your best friend."

Asriel shot into the sky and grew several feet, donned a purple tunic like the one Toriel wears, and black lines appeared under his eyes.

" _ **ASRIEL DREEMURR**_ _!"_


	30. The God of HyperDeath

_A child in a purple and yellow sweater stood in a room of rainbow, staring up at the goat floating in the sky._

_The goat held up a large ball of energy, and fired it at the child, crying out for them to stop trying to stop him._

_But the child resisted, and held out their hand, intending to save him too._

_The goat, after some hesitation, reached out, and grabbed their hand,_

_A bright flash of white, and the goat was a child._

* * *

Harley opened his eyes and realized that he was lying on a floating platform, in the middle of the abyss.

Struggling to his feet, he notice Frisk was doing the same, except her eyes were fixated on a point in the sky.

"Oh, yeah." She commented. "That's what happens in the end."  
Harley followed her gaze and saw Asriel was floating in the air, watching them both.

"So here is my current dilemma." Asriel commented, gazing down at the two of them. "I could have, by any means, killed the two of you as soon as I saw your pathetic selves unconscious on the floor, but where would be the fun in that?"

"Whatever you're planning, Asriel, you won't break me or my sister!" Harley called out.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. She'd do anything for Chara, Harley. Anything." He stretched out his hand, and pulled out two knives out of thin air.

" _Wait."_ Chara realized. " _Those are mine!"_

" _From the genocide timeline."_

"I see you two recognize these!" Asriel called out. "You see, as I'm now the God of the greater timeline, I can see and access it all - all of the RESETs, all of the alternate worlds - including the base timeline. The one  _before Harley._  I know that Chara sat with Frisk. And I promised her something, Harley. Want to know what it is?"

Asriel hurled the knives at Frisk, impaling them in the ground at her feet. Frisk gazed at them for a moment, before she yanked them out of the ground, and glared up at Asriel.

"You better keep your promise, goat."

She charged at Harley, who was so shocked he didn't even have time to react. He only avoided dying right there because Chara seized control of his body, and leaped backwards.

" _Get a hold of yourself!"_

Harley jumped back again and dodged to the side as Frisk lunged at him.

"Why, Frisk!?" He shouted out. "I thought you wanted to reform! I thought you wanted to help me save the monsters!"

"I did!" Frisk cried out. "But you're going to ruin everything - you can't bring Chara back!"

"Why not! Her life was cut short, and she made the ultimate sacrifice in an attempt to save her first true family!"

"I don't care! Chara is my friend, and I deserve to decide what happens to her!"

"She is in  _my_ head now, Frisk! Mine! Face it!"

"And I want her back!" She pointed up at the God of HyperDeath, who was floating above them, amused. "He promised to give her back if I kill you!"

"If he wins, he'll just erase everything anyway!"

"And when it all restarts,  _you_ will be gone, and Chara will be with  _me!"_ Frisk brandished the knife she had retrieved and pointed it at him. "It's over, Harley!"

"You are my sister, Frisk!" Harley shouted, desperation seeping into his voice. "I trusted you! Why do you keep doing this!"

"Because I'm not! You're a fuck-up in this timeline, and I intend to be rid of you!  _Harleyyyy._ My  _Brotherrrrr._  I want you gone! I want..." Tears began to stream down her face. "I want Chara back! She's all I have that is real! I lost my memories, my friends,  _everything,_  because you came along!"

Harley glanced up at Asriel, who was grinning at the look on Frisk's face. "Now now." Asriel thundered. "We can't have you fighting unarmed now, Harley. Here is something you should be familiar with." Drawing a line in the air, he summoned the blade that Harley used in his Genocide timeline and threw it. Reacting quickly, Harley's hand shot up, and he caught the weapon faster then he thought he could. He quickly dropped it, as he had no desire to hold the weapon that he slew so many with.

"Oh, and I restored your Genocide timeline saves, for now at least." Asriel laughed. "I want to see you two fight at full strength." Asriel pulled both of their SOULs out of their bodies, and left it to float in front of them displaying their LVs of 19, and Harley fell to his knees, feeling a rush of anger. Anger toward the God floating above them, anger to his sister, standing to fight, and outright Hating this whole situation.

_"Harley! You are more than this!"_

Harley rose to his feet and turned to glare at his sister, who saw the pure, unadulterated Rage gleaming in his eyes. "You want to kill, me Frisk? You can try. Remember," He picked up the sword, easily holding it in one hand. "I'm the one who originally killed the Judge!"

With a snarl, Harley dashed forward, charging at Frisk, who ducked. Harley spun around, and, activating his magic, he slammed his sword into the ground, causing a huge cloud of smoke to erupt from the cracks.

 _"Harley!"_ Chara shouted. " _Snap out of it!"_

"All of these timelines, Frisk!" Harley shouted, ignoring Chara. "So many dead,  _when will it end!"_  He stepped out of the smoke and saw Frisk had been knocked on her back. He shot forwards, and stood over Frisk, glaring down.

"It will end," She growled, slapping him. "When you are dead!" She kicked out, knocking him into the air. Harley somersaulted and landed on his feet. He rose, and sprinted towards her, kicking her knives away before she could grab them. Grabbing her by the throat, he lifted her in the air and prepared to deal the fatal blow.

" _Harley! Look!"_ Chara shouted.

He ignored her once more and tried to impale her, but something stayed his hand. " _Give me control, Chara!"_ he yelled.

" _Look at what you are doing! Look at Frisk!"_

He looked at Frisk closer, and with a gasp, he dropped her.

"What the hell?"

Frisk now resembled the child from his vision. Instead of a girl of about his age, she looked as if she had lost six years, and was a scared young girl. The only thing that was the same was the gleaming red eyes, filled with determination.

She cried out in pain and held onto her head.

"What are you doing, Asriel!" Harley roared. "What are you doing to Frisk!"

The God of Hyperdeath floated down and stood beside Harley, gazing down at Frisk. "You see, Harley, I did nothing except remove your influence off of her. You see, the one person you changed the most by being here was Frisk. She lost six years of her childhood, and gained, from what I have seen, an amazingly brutal past to boot. So let me count them down." He held up his hand. "By being here, you took her childhood, you changed her past, your mere presence has Sans remembering past timelines, so there goes one of her friends, and worst of all, you took Chara. The pain she is dealing with is her memories returning to her, Harley. And you know what?" Asriel laughed. "She has every right to hate you. Have fun." Harley collapsed to the ground as Asriel snapped his fingers, and with one quick look, he could see that his LV had dropped. Returning his abnormal SOUL to his body, Harley rose once more.

" _Frisk is a kid?"_ Harley asked Chara. " _Why didn't you tell me?"_

" _I didn't know myself, Harley. I doubt that even she did."_

With a glance up at the floating Asriel, who was watching Frisk squirm on the ground, Harley walked over to her.

"Frisk. It's me."

She jumped at him and began to punch and kick at him. He pushed her off, and shouted  _Hey!_

"It's your fault!" She shouted. "It's all your fault! So much pain, so much suffering! I wouldn't have all of these horrid memories, if it wasn't for you!"

"I didn't ask to be here." Harley told her, trying to stay calm. "I was summoned here, due to your actions!"

"I hate you, Harley!" She cried out. "I hate you, I hate you!"

"I know, Frisk."

"How are you so calm?!"

Harley knelt down beside her and hugged her, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "I'm not." He whispered. "I'm so sorry, Frisk. You don't deserve this, not all of it at least. No one deserves to have these memories, to have suffered, as we have suffered. You have lost so much, because of me."

"I just…" Frisk began to tear up in his arms. "I just… I want Chara back, Harley. She's all I ever had."

Harley shook his head. "It's not up to you or me what happens to Chara, Frisk. It's up to only her now." He rose to his feet. "Stay here, Frisk. You have suffered enough. I'll deal with this monster."

Harley turned, and walked over to the other side of the platform, picking up his fallen blade as he went.

" _You're going to fight the frickin' God of Hyperdeath? You know he's invincible, right?"_

" _Not actually going to fight him, Chara. This blade is to defend myself."_

" _So you aren't as stupid as I thought."_

" _Heh, yeah."_ Harley gazed up at the creature floating above, growing closer and closer by the second. " _Chara?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _You'll help me, right?"_

" _Of course, Harley. That's why I am here."_

"So you two are done?" Asriel called down. "Disappointing. I was hoping one of you would kill the other."

"Not this time, Asriel." Harley responded as the god floated a little lower. "But now it is just you and me."

" _You're filled with Bravery."_  Chara whispered. " _There's no reason to fear the godlike powers arrayed against you."_

"You can't harm me, Harley. I am beyond your comprehension now."

Harley shook his head. "I  _will_ save my friends, Asriel. Not even you can stop me."  
He let of a menacing laugh. "Oh, we will see about that."

Asriel lifted up his hand, and Harley saw a box appear around him.

" _Uh, jump!?"_

He leaped to the side as a bolt of lightning shot down, and slammed onto the ground. He continued to dodge as more bolt crashed around him, and tried to listen as the goat talked.

"You know, I don't really care about destroying this timeline anymore." Asriel told him. "After I kill you, and gain total control, I just want to Reset. All of your progress, everyone's memories, all sent back to zero!"  
"Where will that get you, Asriel!? Does it really amuse you to have us running around in this sick game of yours?"

" _You're filled with Justice, Harley. You_ **will** _make this right again."_

"Why yes, it does. And the best part?  _You'll do it._ Because you made your promises. You  _swore_ to give them a happy ending, Harley." He lowered himself to Harley's level, and summoned to wickedly sharp blades, curved at the ends. He began swinging them at Harley, who did his best to deflect them. After one of his swords were caught in a blade lock, Asriel leaned forward and continued. "Where does that leave you, Harley? Either you give up, and make an oath breaker out of yourself, or, you continue. You come back to me."

" _Harley!" Watch out- nghhh!"_

Harley felt a sharp pain in his chest, and gazed down, seeing the hilt of Asriel's sword sprouting from his chest.

"And the best part?" Asriel whispered into his ear. "You'll do it. Your determination, the very tool got you this far, will be your downfall, for you shall never get past me." Asriel yanked his blade out his chest and watched him collapse. "This isn't a fight that you battle through by strength, Harley." He watched as Harley's SOUL cracked, and he turned away, beginning to float over to Frisk.

 _You're filled with Kindness."_ Chara's voice echoed throughout his head. " _How else could you bring everyone together for one purpose like this?"_

Frisk watched as Harley collapsed to the floor, as saw as the giant goat began to float over to her.

_Harley stood in front of her, trying to cover her from an onslaught of whips that were aimed at the children._

Asriel was half of the way to her. "Frisk, you need to decide what you want to do. If you choose to accept the truth I show you, I will fulfill my end of the deal. But if you don't... " he let out a dark chuckle. "You will be returned back to the form Harley forced you into, and all of the happiness you had as a child will be washed away."

_Harley protected her and Chara from an attack from Undyne._

"No…" Asriel spun around and saw Harley struggling to his feet. "You are right… this isn't a battle that can be won by my own strength. But I will never stop fighting, Asriel, and I will stand against you till the end."

Asriel snarled and shot forward, slamming his shoulder into Harley's throat. It snapped on contact, and Harley fell to the ground again. His SOUL floated up and shattered, but Asriel watched in disbelief as it reformed once more. Harley stood and stared directly at the goat. Asriel, who was losing his patience, put his fist through Harley's chest, and threw him several feet away, only for Harley to stand up once more.

"Why?" Asriel asked. "Why do you keep on fighting, when you know it is hopeless?"

" _You're filled with Patience. Even if it takes an eternity, you will always keep on trying."_  
"Why?" Harley chuckled. "Because I'm determined… And I'll  _never_ surrender. I'll fight to my dying breath, Asriel, no matter how many times it takes."

Asriel scowled, and floated up above the platform "Enough of this!" He yelled, and then smiled. "The child plays the hero. I know who you are, Harley. I know you down to your core, and I know that deep down, you are nothing but that scared child, looking for his sister!"

"You'd know a thing or two about scared children, Asriel!" Chara shouted, using Harley's mouth. "All of that power, all of that bravado, you really are just the scared little boy I always knew!"

Asriel simply grinned. "And Chara finally shows. I've had enough of this messing around. It's time to put an end to you!" Behind Asriel appeared a large skeletal head- like Sans's Gaster Blasters, except with horns- and it hummed with energy. "Let's see what good your determination is against this!"

He opened his hand, and a ball of light appeared in its mouth. "Frisk!" Harley realized, and he ran over to her. He had just knelt and put his arms over her, shielding her with his body, when the goat closed his fist, and the blaster fired.

" _Ahhhhh!"_ Harley and Chara screamed in unison, as the energy poured into his body and mind.

The light faded, and Frisk gazed up at Harley, who wearily stood, facing Asriel.

"Even after that attack, you're still standing?" Asriel laughed in surprise. "You really are something special, aren't you?"

"Asriel." Harley struggled to keep his balance. "You want control of the world. My world. You want to RESET and ERASE what is possibly the last hope for monsters. Me. You think it's all so simple, don't you? You take everything from me, and I'll stop trying. I'll burn out like the last flare, drifting in a sea made of your design, gone into the abyss, since Frisk no longer has the strength to fight you."  
"But determination- my determination, at least - doesn't work like that, Asriel. Because the truth is..." Harley's hands balled into fists. "The more you take from me, the more I have to take back. The more you take, the more I have to fight for!"  
"And I don't need no sword, gun, magic, nor Rage or Hatred to win, Asriel. And even if it takes to my last breath, I  _will_ SAVE you, Asriel!"

"A mighty speech, for one barely standing." Asriel responded. "And you know what? I have only been using a fraction of my power up until now, but it is time." Asriel floated back, and with a huge flash of light, he transformed. Harley was thrown back beside Frisk, and he gazed up as Asriel appeared as a giant creature with huge wings that changed colors, a huge heart shaped object serving as his torso, with hearts in the orientation of monster souls on his arms. He looked like…  
"The delta rune." Harley whispered, awestruck. He struggled to his feet and stood before Asriel.

"You refuse still? Fine." Asriel launched dozens of comets at Harley, who managed to dodge a few before getting hit and falling to his knees again. "You cannot beat me, Harley. Nor you, Chara."  
" _What can I do, Chara?"  
_ " _Can you load?"_

Harley tried to summon his options, but failed. He tried again, and failed.

Frisk watched as he struggled, but she was still trying to make sense of the memories flashing by her. " _He's going to lose.'_ She thought to herself. " _He doesn't know what to do… Should I let him die? It will get me what I want."_ More memories flashed past. Harley killing her in the Void. Harley separating her and Chara. Harley smashing her RESET button. " _It will be too easy. But…"_ She forced herself to think of the good times. " _He's the most loyal person I know. And despite all of the hell I put him through, he still gave me another chance to redeem myself. Even when everyone, including me, knew I didn't deserve it. I know what I have to do."_ She closed her eyes and concentrated on her choice.

Harley fell to his knees, exhausted. " _Chara, I'm not going to win this, and the longer I fight, the longer the people inside him suffer."_

" _No, Harley!"_ Chara shouted. " _If you surrender, he will wipe you clean of the timeline!"_

" _Maybe that's what's necessary. All I've done is cause more suffering, for Frisk, for Sans, for everyone."_

" _What about me, Harley!" Chara cried out._

Harley stood up, and Asriel raised one massive hand, crushing him. His soul cracked, and remained that way, immobilized.

* * *

"What about me?!" Chara cried out, swinging her fist at him.

He caught her hand, and let it drop. They were standing in her Void bedroom again

"Looks like it's the last time I'll be here." He remarked.

"So you're surrendering!"  
"I've caused so much pain and strife, Chara! I slew all of monsterkind, changed Frisk, forced Sans to remember every time his entire race was exterminated, and I can't even fix it!"

"What about me!"

Harley sighed. "What do you mean, Chara?"

"What do you think is going to happen to me if you leave? You've done so much for me, Harley! Ever since the Genocide Route, you have stuck out your neck for me, even after I killed you! And when I beat you, tortured you,  _raped you_ , you kept coming back, doing your best to save me from the infection caused by Frisk!"

"You promised me that we will fight through this, Harley." Tears began to trickle down her face. "You promised me that when all this was over, we were going to restore my body, and we can be friends for real." She began to cry. "You can't give up, Harley. You need to keep fighting! For Frisk! For Sans! For me! You made a promise to us all, Harley!"

"I can't do it, Chara."  
"You can, Harley! I know you can!"

"Why do you have so much faith in me, Chara?"  
"Because I have faith in you, Harley! Because I… Because I…" Chara wiped her eyes, and shouted angrily. "Because you promised, damn it!"

Harley walked over, and hugged Chara. "Don't stop being you, Chara." Harley turned, and began to walk away.

"Where are you going!" She shouted.

He turned and smiled at her. "To continue being me." His eyes hardened and flashed, and he faced forward.

" _Chara's faith in you fills you with Determination."_ Harley thought and grinned. " _I like the sound of that."_

* * *

Frisk's body glowed, and her choice was made.

She ran over to Harley and began to shake him. "Harley! Get up!"

"So I see you made your choice, Frisk." Asriel rumbled. "You have chosen keep the pain of the fake timeline. How idiotic."  
"Harley." Frisk whispered. "Get up."

"You know, I would've kept my word." He told her. "I would've given you back everything you ever wanted. All you had to do was let that fool die. He will surrender soon."

Harley's eyes opened, and he gazed up at her.

"Frisk?" He mumbled. "You're back."  
"Yes, I am, brother. " Frisk told him.

He sat up. "You gave up on Chara? On being... you?"

"I didn't give up, Harley. I chose to grow up, and accept what is happening. I need to realize that, even with the pain and suffering that comes with you, you are undoubtedly one of the greatest humans I know."

Harley smiled at her. "Oh, Frisk. Your eyes…"

"What about them?" She asked.

"They're blue again."

"I guess because… I will not be controlled by my Determination anymore. From now on, I control it." She rose and held out her hand. "Come on, Harley. We have people to Save."

"I don't know how to beat him Frisk."

"We aren't going to, Harley. We are going to SAVE our friends, like we promised. Feel deep inside him, Harley. They are in there somewhere."

They focused, and reached out, calling from deep within Asriel. And suddenly…

Sans and Papyrus appeared in front of Harley, and Undyne and Alphys appeared in front of Frisk.  
" _Lost Soul Appears in front of you."_ Chara whispered.

"Lost, huh?"

"You need to make them remember their experiences with you, Harley!"

"Hey Sans, you know what happened to the Italian who ate all of the spaghetti? He pasta-way."

The smaller of the two chuckled, but the larger glared at him. "I NEED TO CAPTURE YOU TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" A wave of bones flew at Harley, who dodged them.

"just give up, kid. i already did." A blaster appeared and fired, but Harley managed to dodge it.

" _Papyrus, after this, we can all make some spaghetti!"_ Chara called out. The larger skeleton perked up, and Harley walked over to him.

"You are the kindest Soul I have ever met, Pap. You have helped me, across every timeline. And you, Sans. Even after I slew everyone, you still knew I was going to save monsterkind. You are the brothers I never had… Please, come back to me."

The lights flickered in Papyrus's eyes, and he bent, hugging Harley. "YOU ARE THE KINDEST HUMAN I HAVE EVER MET!"

Harley felt a hand on his shoulder. "i'm rooting for ya, kid." He told him. "always have, always will."

The two of them faded into the mist, and Harley focused again, calling for a very special Goat.

She appeared in front of him. "You will fall, like all of the others." She said sadly, and launched torrents of flames at him.

He dodged them, and ran towards her, hugging her. "Toriel…" He said, "Mom… You protected me when I was injured, and released me when I asked you to. You're the greatest mother I could ever ask for, because you'd never abandon me." He smiled at her confused look. "You even came back when I was going to fight Asgore, just to make sure he didn't kill me. I… Iove you, mother."

Her confusion cleared, and she knelt, hugging him back. "I love you too, Harley. I will always protect you, no matter what." She released him, and he watched as she faded away too.

Harley turned and saw as Asgore faded away from view from beside Frisk. "Alright, so what do we do?"

"Do you feel that?" She whispered. "There is still one more person to save."

Harley smiled. "We will Save him, too."

" _You're filled with Integrity."_ Chara told him proudly. " _You've come this far, and you'll finish this, no matter what."_

"What are you doing!?" Asriel cried out. "What are you  _doing?!_ What's this feeling...? What's happening to me?" He began to launch volleys of bullets at them, all of which they dodged together. "No!  _No_! I don't need  _anyone_!  _Stop it_! Get away from me! Do you hear me!? I'll tear you apart!"

"Everyone deserves a second chance, Asriel." Harley said.

"Do you know why I'm doing this, Chara, Harley...? Why I keep fighting to keep you around...? I'm doing this… Because you're special, Chara." Fire magic began to fall all around them, but it wasn't close enough to harm them."

" _Oh, Asriel."_

"You're the only one that understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore."

"Asriel." Frisk whispered

"No... That's not just it. I... I... I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! I care about you more than anybody else! I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not ready for you to leave.

I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again…

"Asriel…" Harley muttered

"So, please... stop doing this…  _and just let me win!"_

Asriel launched a multicolored beam at them. Right before it hit, Harley felt Frisk grab his hand. He looked over at her, and smiled. The beam struck them, draining their HP.

20

11

1

0.1

0.01

0.001

0.0001

0.00001

0.000001

0.00000001

0.000000001

It stopped, and they fell to their knees, but, using each other for support, they managed to stand again.

" _You're filled with Perseverance, even at 0_. _000000001 HP, simple pain will never be enough to stop you."_

"Stop it!  _Stop it now!"_ Asriel cried out, and he began to sob.

"Chara… I'm so alone, Chara… I'm so afraid, Chara…"

"It's okay to be afraid, Asriel." Harley called out. He stretched out his hand to him. "Take my hand, Asriel.

" _You're filled with Determination - you will SAVE Asriel Dreemurr!"_

"Chara, I…" He floated down to them. "I…"

" _Take his hand, Asriel."_

Asriel reached out, and in a flash of white, He was in his original form, holding Harley's hand.

"I'm… so scared, Harley."

"I know." Harley knelt down to Asriel's height. "I know you are going through pains I don't understand, but my life has been hell, too. If I've learned anything, it's that if the right people stand beside you, you can succeed in just about anything.

Asriel grew silent and then began to sob. Frisk walked over to him and hugged him.

"It's okay to be afraid, Asriel."

"Heh…" He hugged Frisk tight. "I.. Don't want to let go…"

Harley placed his hand on Asriel's head, and his mind went blank.

_Men in uniforms saying NHDS, holding rifles up to a girl whose face was covered by a green hoodie, A man screaming into Toriel's face, Papyrus and Sans standing side by side, hands raised, ready to fire Gaster Blasters, a man with dark red hair wrapped in a black coat, a Rage Soul in front of him. A giant armoured wolf and a small doglike child in a blue and purple sweater charging alongside him and and another figure into combat._

Then they changed.

_Sans with a gold tooth fighting a Papyrus that smoked._

_A demon in Pink, standing over a city._

_A creature in white, attacking Undyne the Undying._

_A pure black Sans, holding up a woman in blue threads._

_A Grey child, staring forwards and holding out their hand_

Harley gasped and opened his eyes.

"What happened?" Frisk asked.

"Wha-" He looked down at Asriel.

"Visions of the future, maybe? Alternate worlds, alternate possibilities? Who knows." Asriel shrugged. "Don't pay it too much mind. There is something I have to do." Asriel floated into the air. "It's time to break this barrier, once and for all!"

The world glowed, and, with a large tearing sound, the barrier ripped clean in two.

Asriel fell out of the air, and Harley caught him.

"Hah…" He sighed. "Go… I cannot stay in this form for much longer. Harley, remember what I said. Do not focus on the visions, and live your life. Either they happen, or they don't you can't stop them either way. As for you, Frisk…" Asriel climbed out of Harleys' arms, and hugged her. "Remember, its don't kill, and don't be killed. That's the best we can do, right?" Frisk nodded. "It's time for me to go… Farewell, you two. And goodbye, Chara."

" _Goodbye, Asriel."_

Asriel smiled at them, and the world vanished.


	31. Endings?

_The Void._

_Harley and Frisk stood side by side in Chara's room, the former demon warily studying her._

" _Uh, hi." Frisk said._

" _Hi?" Chara fumed. "After all the pain you caused me, and had me deal out to others, all you have to say to me is, 'Hi?'"_

_Frisk took a deep breath, but before she could speak, Gaster floated into the room._

" _Why, hello there." His deep,_ _staticky_   _voice echoed throughout the room. "Quite a crowd we have in here. The Demon, The Monster, and The Glitch, all together. A few timelines ago, you all would have been trying to tear each other apart, and yet you have all redeemed yourselves, with two of you being in control of your own power again."  
Chara and Frisk turned to look up at Harley, whose eyes still burned red with Determination. "He has more control than the both of us!" Frisk exclaimed. "What do you mean, Determination controls him?"_

_Gaster shrugged. "Did you think he was born with eyes of that color?"_

" _So what color are they supposed to be?" Chara asked._

" _They changed a long time ago." Frisk admitted. "I don't really remember when. We kinda were going through a lot at the time."_

" _Didn't your captors use to experiment on you?" Chara blurted out without thinking._

_Harley narrowed his eyes and Frisk covered her mouth with her hands._

" _Whoops_."  _Chara thought._

" _How do you know that?" Harley asked._

_Gaster waved his hand in the air. "Discuss it later. What does she mean, Harley?"_

_Harley's hard gaze stood on Chara for a few moments, his expression unreadable. Finally, after what felt like forever, he looked up at Gaster, and he pulled off his jacket, rolling up the sleeve on his left arm. This exposed several bruises and welts to the open 'air.' Gaster floated over, and two hands materialized, grabbing onto Harley's arm, holding it steady as he examined it._

" _What did they inject you with?" He asked absently._

" _Red liquid." He replied. "It made me stronger and faster."_

" _Determination experiments..?" Gaster muttered, fascinated. "On the surface?"_

" _So it would seem." Frisk told him. "But why?"_

" _Maybe it's not LV that gave us magic, Harley." Chara told him. "Maybe it was the excess DT? Exposure to magic in general?"_

" _The usage of magic by, on, and against Harley is probably why his SOUL looks as it does." Gaster said. "The stored DT inside him activates the more he uses it, and his SOUL cannot handle it, alongside the DT that he, alongside you two, naturally produces. It doesn't help his negative trait is Rage, which really is just the Determination being used for violent purposes, hence why it is just a deeper shade of red. Chara's Hatred was a beast of its own design, and Frisk… Well, you never displayed a negative trait. Everything you did, you did with Determination alone."  
_ " _As for the magic, Humans seemed to lose their affinity to use it shortly after monsters were locked down here, so it's possible your exposure to it, alongside the changes the timeline has created due to Harley being here, has allowed you all to access those sort of powers."_

" _So you're saying that if I don't drain the DT in my soul, I'll die?" Harley inquired._

" _If magic keeps being used on you, or by you, yes."_

" _We can use magic?" Frisk studied her hands._

" _Yes. And I am sure that you will remember how to soon enough."_

" _Gaster, release them from this slumber, now." Chara demanded  
_ " _Why the rush?" Frisk asked. "I have more questions for him, Chara."_

" _Think! If someone sees Harley, they will try to heal him!" Harley's eyes widened, and Chara turned to Gaster again. "Wake them, now!"  
Gaster snapped his fingers, and they vanished, leaving Chara and Gaster alone._

" _Are you going to leave, Chara?"_

_Chara sat on her bed and hugged her knees. "I don't know." She admitted. "I have caused so much pain, Gaster. What if I do it again? What if I get Harley killed this time?"_

" _Do you love him, Chara?"_

" _I don't mean him any harm!" She snapped. "If I did, I wouldn't care if I killed him!"_

_Gaster shook his head. "Not LOVE, Chara. Love."_

" _Oh." She shrugged. "I don't know, Gaster. There is something there, I know there is. But what if it's because I am in his head? Or because he SAVED me? Nothing is clear."_

" _Is it ever?" He asked. He floated over to the bed across from her and sat down. "If things were always clear, where would I be in this world? Science exists because things are confusing, and I learned over the years that you cannot allow something as little as fear stop you, Chara. You must prepare for it all to fail, yes, but if you don't even take the risk, it is worse than failure."_

" _So you're saying I should be resurrected?"_

" _More than that, Chara. When you are down there, make sure you actually_ live _. Don't allow the fear of your past to dictate your future actions, instead, allow it to guide you. Learn from them, and move forward. Do you understand?"_

" _Yes." She smiled, looking up at Gaster. "I need to return to Harley now. Thank you… for everything."_

" _Thank you, Chara. You and Harley have SAVED my race." He smiled wistfully. "Maybe one day, I will join you out there."_

" _I would love that."_

" _Farewell, Chara."_

" _Goodbye."_

* * *

Harley woke with a start.

"heya, kid. don't move too quick or you're gonna fall in the river."

"Where am I?" He asked.

"tori didn't seem to think it wise to use traditional magic on you, seeing how your SOUL looks like it's abouta burst. so she gave alphys her last duty as the royal scientist, which is to heal you. however, alph tells me you got this crazy plot to resurrect chara?"

"Yeah." Harley sat up and faced Alphys. "Is everything prepared?"

"Y-yeah." Alphys replied. "The DT Extractor will drain you of enough energy, while you enter the Void to pull out Chara."

"you two realize that if anything goes wrong, you will die?" Sans asked. "and it won't be one you can return from. you will be stuck there, forever."

"It's one I'm willing to take." Harley told him. "Besides, if my SOUL bursts, I'll die anyway."

"S-so this is his best option."

Sans nodded his head. "i know. i just needed to make sure you both knew the risks before you tried."

"Thanks." Harley told him. "Hey, wait. Where is Frisk?"

"H-her SOUL is healthy, so she's with the o-others." Alphys replied. "They decided that when she w-wakes, they will all walk over to m-my lab, and check on y-you."

The boat stopped, and the Riverperson turned to face Harley.

"Tra-la-laa." It sang. "Beware the strings, for they shall tear you apart."

The image of a Sans with the blue strings popped up in Harley's head. "Wait, what?"

"c'mon, kid. that monster only speaks in riddles."  
Harley grumbled, but did as he was told. The group walked into the Lab, and quietly stepped into the elevator that led to the True Lab.

"Alphys, why did Toriel fire you?"

"I came clean, and told everyone about the DT experiments, and sent the amalgams home."

"Wait, Amalgams? DT experiments?"

Sans waved his hand. "i'll tell ya later, kid. we have more important things to do right now."

Harley nodded.

" _Chara?"_ He called out mentally. " _Chara, are you there?"_ he waited a few moments, and tried again. " _Chara? Are you there?"_

" _For the love of Asgore, don't call out like that!"_ She snapped. " _You sound like Asriel."_

" _Whoops. We're entering the True Lab, Chara. Have you made your decision?"_

" _I made my choice as you fought Asriel, Harley. If you are willing to accept the risks, then so am I."_

"everybody off!" Sans called out. "follow the kind doctor, kid. i'll tail ya."

They stepped out of the elevator, and Alphys silently led the way.

" _Where's Frisk?"_ Chara asked.

" _She's with Papyrus and the others."_ Harley replied.

" _Oh, alright."_

" _Chara?"_

" _Yes?"_

" _Be honest with me. How did you know about the experiments?"_

" _When I was in possession of your body, I had a dream that I was you, and I saw bits and pieces of pain you went through."_

" _Why didn't you tell me?"_

" _I wasn't sure how you would react. I tried to get you to tell me about it, but it didn't work. And before long, we were traveling to meet up with Frisk, and there was no time afterward."  
_ Harley mentally sighed. " _Chara, I would've rather you told me. I know you don't like people knowing about your past, much less talking about it. Hell, I still don't know how you died. But I respect that, so please, do the same for me."_

" _I will."_ She promised.

"A-alright, here w-we a-are."

There was a large machine in the shape of an animal's skull taking up the center of the room.

" _The DT Extractor."_ Chara told him.

" _What's with monsters and animal skulls?"_

He could feel Chara's shrug. " _Hell if I know."_

"H-harley. L-last t-time, are y-you sure a-about this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He glanced down at her, and saw she was sweating. "Nervous?"

"A-aren't y-y-you?"

"No." He grinned broadly. "After all I've been through, I wont let this be how I die. I'll come back, Alphys, and I'll bring Chara with me. I made a promise to rescue her and all monsters." He made a fist. "I've succeeded so far, and I'll be damned if something like the Void got in my way!"

Alphys let out a nervous chuckle. "Y-you sound l-like Undyne."

"Do I?"

"Y-yeah. Nothing w-will s-stop you, not even the threat of d-death. You a-are a h-hero, H-harley."

"I'm just trying to repent for my own mistakes, Alphys."

"Haven't you succeeded? What could y-you have d-done that is so t-terrible, rescuing an en-entire race isn't enough?"

"It's better not to know the answer, Alphys." He returned his gaze to the animal's skull. "How does this thing work?"

On cue, the front of the machine hissed open, revealing a large pit, with a decayed skeleton already inside. "crawl into the dark machine." Sans called out.

"You aren't sticking any needles in my eyes, right?"

"N-no!" W-why would w-w-we do that!"

"It's just a joke." Harley reassured her. "A reference." He pointed at the skeleton. "Is that Chara?"

"all that i could recover from her tomb in the ruins."

He nodded, and climbed in the machine, and attempted to get comfortable with the corpse. "Alright, what's next?"

"pray you don't die."

"Ha ha."

"i'm not kidding, kid. i wish i had some advice for you, or some witty joke or pun, but i have no idea what you are goin' into, except it's incredibly dangerous."

"S-so just be c-careful!"

Harley nodded. "Alright."

"ready?"

"Yeah. Let's do this!"

Sans hit a button, and the doors closed. Harley closed his eyes and waited.

The machine hummed to life, and he howled in pain as energies tore at his SOUL.

One moment.

Two moments.

Three moments.

Harley gritted his teeth, and he blacked out.

* * *

_The Void._

_He had no idea where he was. Nothing was clear in front of him, except the small, dark path at his feet._

_He tried to call for Chara, but there was only silence. She was gone from his head. He will have to find his way to her. Resigning himself to that, he stepped on the path and began to walk._

_It wasn't long before he began to hear voices. Voices promising him power, wealth, and ironically, control over the timeline. He wasn't tempted by these, so he continued to follow the path._

_That's when the images began._

_The man in black, the Red Rage soul hovering in front of him._

_The creature in white, combating Toriel._

_Frisk, standing in front of an options box, as Chara knelt on the ground, weeping._

_The Sans with the threads, staring out into white space._

_Harley stared down at a Demon in pink, until he realized she was actually standing next to him._

" _You!" He cried out. "I've seen you before, who are you? What do you want from me?"_

_She chuckled. "From you, nothing."_

" _So why do I keep seeing you?"_

" _Probably glancing around different realities, kid."_

_The two of them spun around, and saw the tall Papyrus, wearing an orange jacket, and chomping away at a cigar. The demon in pink peeked out from behind Harley's shoulder and sighed._

" _I really don't care about either of you. I've got enough issues in my own timeline." The demon walked away, and Harley and the strange Papyrus stared after her._

" _Friendly." Papyrus commented._

" _What do you mean?" Harley asked._

" _Alternate realities. I don't envy the one dealing with that thing, it feels incredibly dangerous."_

" _Alternate worlds?"_

" _Yeah. This is the Void, kid, you can see them all from here."_

" _What's the difference between ours?"_

" _You, probably. I haven't the faintest clue who you are, kid. Only that you are dying. I'm here taking a stroll while I nap. The hell are you here for?"_

" _I'm trying to find Chara."_

" _You mean the little boy my brother and i met?"_

" _No, the Chara I know is my age. And a female."_

" _Huh." He scratched his chin. "Well, she ain't this way. This way is back home, for me. Try the way that creature didn't go. And hurry."  
_ " _Alright, thanks!" Harley ran off, again following the dark pathway._

_He ran, moving faster and faster, the visions blurring past his eyes._

_He saw his life, literally flashing in front of his eyes._

_He saw Frisk, the day he turned seven._

_He watched the day that he and Frisk were first assaulted by their father._

_He watched the day she was sold, and the day he was._

_He watched the years of torture, experiments, rapes, and slavery._

_He watched the desperate escape attempt, the one that led up the peak of Mount Ebott, and into the Underground._

_The visions flew past him even faster, as he sprinted, trying to escape his demons._

_The first Froggit he killed._

_When he slew Toriel._

_When Undyne the Undying was finally slain._

_When Mettaton Neo was destroyed._

_When he impaled Sans._

_When he was killed by Chara._

_When he killed Frisk._

_Chara, beating him within an inch of his life._

_Chara, torturing and raping him._

_Being slain, over and over again, by Omega Flowey._

_Harley tripped, and crashed to the ground, watching himself die at Asriel's hands, over and over. He watched his own will break, his strength ebbing, and he knew it was too late. He had taken too long._

" _I'm not… going to make it… I'm so sorry, Chara."_

" _What for?"_

_Harley's gaze shot up, and he saw an adult Chara standing in front of him, wearing a gown similar to Toriel's._

" _Chara?"_

" _Not your Chara."_

" _Clearly."  
She laughed and held out a hand. "Here, get on your feet." He let her pull him off the ground, and he stood, weary._

" _Look, I don't know who you are, but I assume you're coming for your Chara, so let me tell you the one thing that doesn't change about us, no matter where we are: we fight, we love, we trust, but most of all, we usually have faith, the ones that aren't broken, at least. If you are looking for a Chara, then I can guarantee she has faith in you, so you mustn't let her down. That is the ultimate betrayal. So push forward, little man. You can do this." The Chara faded away into the darkness of the Void, and Harley was left alone._

"No…"  _he thought to himself._ "Never alone… These people… they might be real, but there is no way that they are actually here… They are the manifestations of the faith that others have put in me. Reminders of all I have to lose, and I refuse to let them down."  _He took a step forward. And another._ "I will never fail you. I told you I was coming to get you, Chara, so on my life."  _another step._ "I will."  _He broke into a steady jog, which quickly grew into a full-length sprint, as he ran along the path._

_And eventually, he made it._

_Chara was waiting for him, outside of the room._

_He slowed down into a walk, and when he reached her, he fell onto his knees, exhausted._

" _Took you long enough." She remarked." I was worried you wouldn't make it."_

_She put her arm under Harley's, and lifted him up off the ground, supporting his body against hers._

" _I promised you I would be here, didn't I?" Harley replied, his voice raspy. "So here I am."_

" _A man of your word."_

" _Indeed I am." he gestured back down the way he came, where a small light was shining through a door that had appeared. "We still doing this?"_

_Chara hesitated, glancing back at her Voidroom. She faced Harley, her jaw set. "Yes. Let's go, Harley. To the real world."_

_The two of them walked over to the door, and after Chara pulled it open, they stepped through._

* * *

Frisk bursted through the door that lead to where the DT Extractor was, Undyne hot on her heels.

"Where is he!" Frisk cried out, and Sans wordlessly pointed at the Extractor. It didn't take much longer to notice that both he and Alphys we acting nervous, and Sans's eye sockets had gone dark.

How long has he been in there?" Undyne asked.

"A-about an h-hour." Alphys answered. "Where a-a-are the o-others?"

"Heading down. The kid and I ran here."

" _Wake up, Harley."_ Frisk begged. " _Please."_

After a few tense moments of silence, Papyrus, Asgore, and Toriel entered the room.

"Where is he?" Toriel asked, worried, and Sans just pointed at the Extractor again.

"Why is he in there?" Asgore's deep voice was full of shock.

"YES, BROTHER, WHY IS THE MALE HUMAN IN THE GASTER BLASTER MACHINE?"

"because we needed to siphon his excessive DT out of his SOUL. and because…" Sans hesitated. "there is someone he is trying to SAVE. someone who was stuck in his own mind."

"YES, THE MALE HUMAN IS A NOBLE ONE." Papyrus told the king. "ALWAYS TRYING TO HELP OTHERS. OF COURSE, HE LEARNED THAT FROM YOURS TRULY!"

"Ngahhhh…." Undyne growled. "Wait, did you just say 'stuck in his own mind?'"

"yes."

"Who the hell is he trying to save that was in his head?"

"...chara dreemurr."

"You lie." Toriel said flatly. "Chara is dead. I buried her myself, in the Ruins."

"about that…" Sans winced. "the corpse is in there with him."

Fire appeared in Toriel's hands, and everyone backed away from her. "What?" She asked quietly.

Sans didn't seem impressed by the display of magic. "chara dreemurr's corpse is in the machine, alongside harley…" he looked over a Frisk. "what's your guys last name?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Dreemurr, Frisk." Toriel said kindly, still holding the fire. "You asked me to adopt you, remember?"

"That's me. Harley won't accept."

Toriel looked hurt. "Why not?"

"He's too independent. He's going to keep the family name, even if he lives with us."

Toriel nodded, and returned her glare to Sans.

"so what's the name?"

"I'm not saying."

"ugh, whatever. my point is, chara has been living in his head since he returned, and now, he's trying to bring her back. it's why i dug up her corpse, and stuck it and harley in that thing."

"You touched our child's remains without asking, Sans." Asgore rumbled.

"if this works, you aren't going to care."

The two goats fell silent, and Toriel dropped her paws, her magic fading. Everyone watched nervously as the machine began to whir to a stop, and the doors hissed open.

Inside sat the male they were expecting, his eyes closed, his SOUL in front of him, finally healed.

But curled against him lay a woman of about sixteen, with brown hair, pale skin, and was about the size of Frisk. And she was wearing the clothes she died in, a green and yellow sweater and brown slacks. A red Soul hovered in front of her, right beside Harley's. The entire group watched in awe as the SOULs floated back into their respective bodies.

Chara Dreemurr had returned to the land of the living. Harley had successfully brought her back from the Void.

Frisk let out a loud woop, and Alphys leaned back in her chair, exhausted, as Toriel and Asgore stared in disbelief. Sans, however, walked over to the machine, and examined the two of them.

"undyne? pap? a hand, please?"

The two walked over, and gently lifted Chara and Harley out of the machine, carrying them over to two beds that Sans directed them to.

"SANS, WHY ARE THEY SLEEPING?"

"Yeah, they are alive. We saw their SOULs!" Undyne protested.

"they are probably just tired. it's no small feat, what the two of them just accomplished."

"I'd imagine." Frisk stated, walking up to them, Asgore and Toriel in tow.

"Is that… Really her?"

"It looks like her, Tori."

"It… is."

Harley had awakened, his deep red eyes shining with happiness as he gazed down at Chara.

"Hey… Sleepyhead." He poked her in the ribcage. "Get up."

Chara yawned, and rolled over. "Did it work?"

"See for yourself."

She sat up, and gazed around the room.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Oh, my dear child!" Toriel couldn't take it anymore. She rushed over, knocking Undyne aside, and she gave Chara the fiercest hug. "Oh, I can't believe you are alive!"

Asgore gazed at Harley, the happiness radiating off of him. "Thank you so much, Harley. And you, Frisk. The two of you saved all of monsterkind, and then you saved my daughter. It there is anything you need, just say the word."

"Mom," Chara's voice was muffled by Toriel's sleeve. "Let me go, ma."

"I am sorry, Chara, but I am just so happy to see you!"

"Mom, I want you to see the surface." Chara told her. "Harley, Frisk, and I worked so hard to break the barrier, so we want you to see it."

"Alright, dear child. Would you like me to take you there?"

"No." Frisk replied for Chara. "Mom, with all due respect, I would like to walk with Chara and Harley alone. There are somethings we need to discuss."  
Toriel nodded. "Very well." She replied. "We will all wait for you at the exit to the Surface." She turned around, and after one last glance at Chara, she ushered everyone out of the lab.

"What happened, Frisk?" Harley asked.

Chara pulled herself out of bed, and gazed at Frisk.

"Chara… I'm so sorry."

Chara swung her fist, punching Frisk across her face. She glared at her. "You caused me so much pain, Frisk. More than a simple, ' _i'm sorry,'_ can fix."

"I know." Frisk sat up, rubbing her cheek. "But it's a place to start."

"Yeah. I suppose it is." Chara glanced at Harley, who was still sitting in the bed. "Harley, your eyes…"

"What about them?" He asked.

"That's the one of the other reasons I had us hang back." Frisk stated. "They are still red."

Harley shook his head. "Frisk, my eyes were red long before we came down here. I didn't expect them to change, so I don't see why you did."

"It was a hope, Harley. Chara and I are back to normal, but you aren't? That doesn't seem fair."

"I'm not allowing my SOUL power to control me anymore, Frisk. I am not fueled by Rage or controlled by Determination. I am the master of my own power now, as you two are."

"Didn't Gaster say we can use magic still?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, he did. He also said that we would remember how to, soon enough."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Chara asked. "We are going to need to figure out soon, seeing as the humans on the surface are going to be able to use magic once monsters start to mingle among them again."

"Well, how did we use magic, exactly?" Frisk asked.

"I channeled it through weapons, creating and duplicating energy blasts and weapons." Harley responded.

"I summoned knives and other constructs." Chara replied.

"And I usually just summoned whatever I needed, shields, blades, forcefield, the lot." Frisk finished.

Chara focused, and tried to summon her blades, but failed. "It's probably going to take some practice."

Harley nodded. "Yeah, it probably is." he rose to his feet. "C'mon guys. It's time to go meet with the others."

The other two agreed, and Harley lead the way out of the True Lab. When they stepped out into Alphys's aboveground lab, they were surprised to see that Sans was waiting for them.

"figured you guys wouldn't want to walk all of the way there." He said, spinning a bone through his fingers.

"Thank god, Sans." Harley said. "I would hate to walk."

He chuckled, and held out a hand. Chara took it, and they all grabbed onto each other. "let's do this."

They vanished, and reappeared outside of the room where the others were waiting.

Sans walked in without a word, but the three of them hung back.

"This is it." Harley said. "We are about to leave, and open ourselves up to a brand new world. Are you ready?"  
"Look, as long as I am with you two, I am ready." Frisk responded.

"Chara?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Yeah… I just wish Asriel was here with us."

"We will figure out how to SAVE him, Chara. I promise we will. But for now, we can only follow his advice, and move forwards.

Chara kicked at the ground. "Yeah, I know." She gazed down the dark hall.  _I will come back, Asriel. I promise."_

Harley placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled kindly. "We will SAVE him too, Chara."  
She nodded, and smirked. "Alright guys. Into-"

"Wait." Frisk interrupted. She faced Harley, and held out her hand. "Secret handshake?" She asked hopefully.

Harley hesitated, gazing at her hand. Her face began to fall, when he smirked, and held out his hand.

"Secret handshake." He agreed.

Then the pair of them proceeded to promptly shake hands, bump fists, fist pound, do jazz hands, and finish by slapping each other ten times.

Chara shook her head, bemused. "Are you done now?"

"Yeah, let's go." Frisk said.

"Wait." Harley told them. He summoned his RESET button, and glanced at Frisk. "I want to make this official; to make sure I am never tempted to return. Would you do the honors?"

"Gladly." Frisk replied, and Harley and Chara averted their eyes as she slammed her fist into his button, destroying it.

"So now we can only Save and Load."

Frisk nodded. "Yeah. So, now that there is no chance to return, are you ready to move forwards?"

Harley nodded, and gestured with his hand. "Into the light."

The walked into the room where the others were waiting, and silently walked through, Harley in the lead. The six monsters followed suit, and the nine of the stepped outside, into the sun.

"Oh my god…" Undyne breathed in deeply, and let loose a wild grin, barely able to contain her excitement. "The sun… it's so warm! The air, it's so fresh!"

"Harley." Asgore rumbled. "My entire race owes you two their lives, and I will be eternally grateful to you for SAVING my daughter… But now, I must ask more of you."

"Yes?"

"Would you join me, and become the ambassador between humans and monsters?"

Harley nodded his head. "I would love to, Asgore."

"I CAN'T TAKE ALL THIS STANDING AROUND!" Papyrus shouted, and he began to run down the mountain.

"Wait for me!" Undyne raced after him, scooping up Alphys in her arms as she went.

"i probably should keep them under control." Sans commented, and he walked back into the Underground, much to the confusion of Toriel and Asgore.

Asgore caught Toriel's eye, and awkwardly shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Err, I think I will go and help!" He sped off after Undyne.

Toriel turned to face Harley.

"My child, your sister told me that you will not become a Dreemurr?"

Harley nodded. "She is correct, Toriel. While I would love it if you took me in, I would rather keep my own last name."

"But why?" Chara asked.

"I went through hell because of who I was, suffering because my family didn't want me." Harley explained. "Keeping my name, and showing my newfound strength… It is one final ' _fuck you'_ to the old man, don't you think?"

Chara shook her head. "You would think that I would know you after living in your head." She commented. "But when you say shit like that, it reminds me of who you are."

"And that is?"

"A stubborn mule."

Harley laughed, and faced Toriel once more.

She was smiling. "Harley, you are a brave child. I don't know what you went through to get here, but your pain is at its end. You don't need to take the name of Dreemurr, but may I ask what your actual second name is?"

Harley stared down the mountain, a half smile on his face - and he swore he saw that figure again. A small child with no eyes and a monochromed skin and hair, staring up at him, before vanishing when he blinked.

He shook his head, gazing down at the City Ebott, before returning his gaze to Toriel.

"Vogel." Harley lifted his chin. "My name is Harley Vogel."

Toriel held out her hand. "Come with me, Harley Vogel, hero of the Underground."

* * *

" _Harley and Frisk Vogel are alive! After six years, they were seen heading down the mountain with a bunch of monsters, who were sealed Underground!"_

" _-reports are coming in that the legends of Mount Ebott were true, and there were hundreds of monsters living underneath! They claim to have been freed by the 'Hero of the Underground,' Harley Vogel, alongside his sister, Frisk Vogel, who has been crowned the Princess of Monsters, alongside a strange human girl going by the name of Chara Dreemurr."_

" _Chara Dreemurr matches the descriptions of the very first child to fall victim to the legends of Mount Ebott!"  
_ " _It isn't possible that is Chara Dreemurr. She would be at least a hundred years old!"  
_ " _Where are the other six children? If the monsters were trapped underground, and Harley, Frisk, and Chara were all down there, where are they?"_

" _Asgore Dreemurr, the King of Monsters, has admitted to slaying six humans that fell into the Underground. Harley Vogel negotiated for him to be placed under house arrest, and to be placed on trial in the upcoming weeks._

" _Humans can use magic! After a few weeks of exposure to monsters, some humans have begun displaying abilities that are claimed to be activated by their SOULs! One monster, the Queen, Toriel Dreemurr, has opened up a school to help guide these people on the arts of magic! So if you are displaying any form of magic, no matter of your age, dial the number on the screen immediately!"_

"Monsters above ground? Blasphemy." A man stood up from his chair, and walked over to his phone. He dialed a number in.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end rang out.

"They have been up here for weeks. It's time to move, now."

"Asgore's trial is next week." The voice on the other end suggested. "We could strike then."

"Who should we target?"

The voice fell silent. "Harley Vogel. But we need to make it seem like a monster killed him."

"Easy."

The man hung up the phone, and turned to a monitor, switching it on. The letters  _NHDS_ appeared on the screen, surrounded by Seven Human Souls; one dark red, one pink, one indigo, one white, one black, one silver, and one gold.

The man smiled.

"It's time to get the gang together. We need to make these monsters realize that they should've never left the underground."

"Starting with you, Harley Vogel."

_End of Twintale's Underground Arcs_


	32. A New Threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Welcome to Twintale, Overground!
> 
> The date that monsters escaped the Underground is 09/15/18

Frisk rolled her eyes and checked her watch. Seeing that her Geometry class had another thirty minutes left, she rolled her eyes again.

It had been almost six weeks since monsters had reintegrated into human society, and despite tensions running high between the two groups now occupying Ebott City, Toriel's school, which was built in a mere two weeks, was a success. Now on its third week of being built, Toriel had both human and monster teachers educating students on the common core subjects, such as Math, Language, and various Sciences, and she had monsters help her teach the ever-expanding groups of humans who were discovering they had magic. She had even come home last week, and was telling her and Chara about the government officials that were visiting her.

Frisk was happy for Toriel, but she hadn't attended school since she was ten years old. And after all of the excitement and horror she had been through, going to school seemed too…  _normal_.

It didn't help that she had almost no classes with Chara, and Harley didn't attend school, seeing how he was always studying politics and going with Asgore to meetings. And now he was even busier, as he prepared for the start of Asgore's trial.

The day that marked six full weeks, October twenty-seventh.

"Frisk Vogel!" The teacher in the front shouted, and Frisk jumped, glaring at her.

For some inexplicable reason, many of the human teachers at this school went out of their way to annoy and bother Frisk as they attempted to humiliate her. Most could barely do more than bug her, but this particular teacher, Mrs. Linda Durman, seemed to know exactly how to get under people's skins.

"Frisk Vogel; since you clearly have much better things to do with your head space, can you answer the question on the board?"

The thing Frisk hated the most was her lack of education. While they were slaves, Harley was able to steal books and study, trying his best to find something to pass the time. Frisk, however, was usually kept "busy," longer than he was, and was usually too exhausted to do anything other than collapse when she finally got back to their room.

She had refused to be placed in a room full of ten year olds, though, so she sat with High School Sophomores, and tried her best to pretend to know what she was doing.

y=mx+b.

Frisk had no idea what that meant, but she was too proud to admit it, so she decided to change the subject instead.

"My name is Dreemurr, Mrs. Durman. Frisk  _Dreemurr_."

"No, I believe that I heard on the news that your name is Vogel, like that boy on TV. He's your brother, right?" Frisk nodded, her cheeks reddening. "It's a shame that I couldn't have  _him_ in my class instead. He must be intelligent to be the ambassador between the races, even if he doesn't have enough common sense to ditch that beast you call dad."

"Asgore is a great man." Frisk said through gritted teeth. "He just made a mistake."

"He killed six children, Vogel!" She was feigning horror at his point, fake gasping and all. "Six!"

"He was doing what was necessary for his people." Frisk rolled her eyes once more. "Just because you don't understand the meaning of 'duty' and 'sacrifice' doesn't mean that everybody doesn't." Mrs. Durman went red and Frisk fought the urge to grin. " _Yesss"_ she thought. " _Frisk six, Linda five."_

"Ms.  _Vogel,_ stay after class." The bell rang. "Sorry class. This disruptive student has prevented you all from learning. I will see you tomorrow." Mrs. Durman looked around the classroom for Frisk, and saw she had walked out with the crowd. "Hey!"

Frisk laughed, and kept walking, heading to her Magic Instruction class, which was taught by Sans and Toriel. On the way there, she stopped by her locker, and opened it, pretending to look through it as she waited for someone.

It didn't take long for him to appear.

Freddy Suarez, a leanly built guy of about 5'7", with short blond hair and striking blue-grey eyes, he was an oddball like her, except instead of being a loner, he was a quite popular. A Junior who was in her Magic class, he had the green Soul of Kindness, and had taken her under his wing once he noticed that she was an outsider amongst her grade.

She had quite the crush on him, not that he seemed to noticed.

"Hey, Frisk!" He called out, bounding up to her. "I heard you got into a fight with the Dungman again?"

Frisk turned to him, grinning. "News travels fast, huh?"

"It sure does! How did you escape getting one of her lectures?"

"She asked for 'Ms. Vogel.' Last time I checked, I'm Frisk Dreemurr."

Freddy shook his head. "It's always the technicalities with you, Frisk."

"Hehe, yeah."

"Hey Frisk…" Freddy glanced away scratching his head. "Your birthday is the 15th of November, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Why?"

"I - uh... So that's why Chara is in my grade. Her's is in September."

Frisk groaned. "Yeah, the lucky punk."

"Hey, who are you calling a punk?" Chara walked up to Frisk and Freddy.

"You! You only have to deal with school for two years!" Frisk complained.  
"Hey, I like to learn. I'm going to try to get all of the advanced courses next year."

"Kiss ass."

"Hey, at least I'm not arguing with every teacher I can." Chara chuckled. "I hear you got into another fight with that crone."

"You would fight with her if you had her!"  
Chara nodded, still chuckling. "You're right. Come on, we should walk to class."

Magic Instruction was one of the only two courses that Chara and Frisk had together, the other being Physical Education. That being said, they were also probably the only courses that Frisk enjoyed. It bothered her that she couldn't really see the two people she cared about the most anymore.

"Does it ever bother you that Harley doesn't have to attend school, Chara?" Frisk asked.

"Not really. His job is really taxing, not to mention he has to study politics non-stop to make sure he knows what he is doing out there. That being said, it would serve him better to be able to attend school regularly."

"You're brother is a really cool guy." Freddy stated. "I wish I could meet him."

They opened the door to Toriel's class, and stepped inside, walking to their seats. The desks were arranged in a semi-circle around the room, leaving an open space in the center, and an aisle to walk down. There was a whiteboard on the right side of the room, and two large desks on the left.

"Good morning, class!" Toriel greeted them all. "If you would give us just a moment, Sans will be here shortly!"

As if on cue, Sans opened the door, followed by Harley. He was wearing his new black and white sweatshirt, the one that hugged his muscular frame, and the beard he had grown was neatly trimmed, running running up his chin to his sideburns and connecting to his mustache, and growing slightly on his cheeks. Frisk wasn't very fond of this look, but Chara found it strangely fitting for Harley, as it made him look a few years older.

Freddy's jaw dropped in surprise, and the people around the room began to mutter to each other, sneaking glances at Harley as they did so.

"He's wearing that just to show off." Frisk muttered to Chara, leaning her head on one hand.

"He certainly is." Chara snorted. "He's trying to make the ladies swoon."

"Oh, Harley!" Toriel seemed surprised to see him, too. "I didn't know you were coming by today!"

"Hey, mom." Harley grinned at Sans. "There really isn't much I can do anymore to help Asgore prep for tomorrow, so he suggested I take the day off. And Sans here suggested that I come by at around this time."

"Well, it's good to see you." She smiled warmly at him. "He's right, this is a great time. And we can review the magic you've been practicing, too, so you don't have to carry that...  _thing,_  around." Toriel glanced around the classroom. "Where do you want to sit?"

One girl raised her hand. "He can sit by us!" She fluttered her eyes at him, and her friends giggled.

Harley gave her a kind smile. "That's very sweet of you, but I'm going to sit by my sister. Maybe next time." Frisk saw Chara's hand tighten into a fist, and she raised an eyebrow at Freddy, who shook his head.

"Hey, Frisk, hey Chara." Harley dropped a chair he had grabbed, and sat next to them. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Freddy." Frisk introduced him. "Freddy, this is my brother, Harley." the two of them shook hands.

"Hey." Freddy said. "Those girls are glaring at you now, dude."

Harley turned, and they waved at him, with one blowing him a kiss.

"No, they are glaring at these ladies." Harley chuckled, turning back. "Whoops. I may have created a problem for you two."

Chara shrugged. "I don't give a damn."

"What are their Souls, anyways?"

"Pretty sure that they are Kindness and Patience." Freddy answered for them. "You are a Determination Soul too, right Harley?"  
"Yeah."

"You know that there are only three of you discovered so far, right?"

"Yeah, Toriel told me. Sans says its because its an incredibly rare to have Determination as your most powerful trait." He glanced over at the girls again. "Patience, huh? Guess I should watch my back."

"Probably."

"Alright class, settle down." Toriel called out. "Today we are going to learn about the negative Soul traits. Sans?"

Sans stepped forward, and pulled over the whiteboard with his gravity magic. He began to draw hearts in circles, first six, than seven inside, than one in the center.

"I thought there were only four negative traits, Chara." Harley whispered.

"I said that at the time. Apparently, they found more."

"a hundred years ago." Sans began to speak, "we only knew of eleven different SOUL traits. the first seven are as follows." He activated his magic again, and seven markers floated up beside his head. He grabbed one, and filled it in as he spoke. "kindness, patience, justice, bravery, perseverance, integrity." He finished the outer circle of hearts, and moved on to the one in the center. "and determination. can anyone guess why i put determination in the center?"

"Frisk, Chara, he asked me to tell you guys not to answer any question today." The two of them nodded, and Freddy raised his hand.

"fred?" Sans called on him.

"Because it's not technically a negative or positive?"

"close, but no." He called on another. "chris?"

"Because humans can have endless amounts of Determination, so having a Determination SOUL means you can harness near-limitless amounts of magic?"

"give that man a cookie. yes, a determination SOUL is the most powerful trait one can have, but having one can have its fallbacks. having access to such immense amounts of energy can easily corrupt those who use it, so they have to make sure to not let it control them. as with any soul, you can tell when someone is being controlled by their power, both negative and positive, because the color of their eyes change. the only exception to this is harley, for he was born with eyes that match his soul."

"Really?" Freddy asked loudly. "You have red eyes?"

Frisk kicked him. "There's no need to shout!" she whispered.

He covered his mouth. "Whoops. Sorry!"

Harley shook his head, and turned around. "Yes. I have red eyes."

"That's  _sooo_ hot." Someone said from across the room.

Sans coughed into his fist. "oookay, the dude is always on tv. you can check him out later." The class returned its focus to Sans. "when someone is controlled by their Soul, it can lead to negative effects. it can lead to their capacity, or ability, to harm others to increase. something that we use to measure this is called LOVE, or LV. that stands for 'levels of violence.' who can tell me what happens when your LV increases? joe?"

"Your negative trait is exposed?"

"yes. If your are controlled by your power when your LV increases, your negative trait begins to reveal itself. so far, five negative traits have been discovered. fear, which is pink, pride, represented by indigo, hatred, which is black, rage, which is a dark red, and cruelty, which is white."

"Aren't monster SOULs white?" Freddy called out.

Sans drew a monster soul on the board. "yes, but a monster soul is upside down. monster souls don't change color, but our strongest traits tend to show when we use our magic. for example, my strongest trait is patience, with my second being justice. so when i use channel magic, my left eye turns blue, while my right goes dark. see?" he turned around, and used his gravity magic to levitate a marker. His eye flashed between cyan and yellow, then settled on cyan. "and when i activate, or actively use my magic, it flashes yellow, as you saw." He made the marker fly across the room, and his eye flashed again.

"Wait." Harley called out. "You said you discovered five traits. Why are there seven up there?"

Sans shrugged. "guesswork? the way i figure it, if there are six normal traits, there should be six negative. and as you are fully aware, the rage trait is unique, since it can only appear as a negative to the determination trait, so i am counting is as the neutral-negative trait."

"So you are saying that all Determination Souls become Rage Souls?" One of the girls with the kindness trait called out.

"No." Harley answered. "What he is saying is that the Rage trait can only appear if the person has a Determination Soul. However, the Determination Soul can change into any of the above."

"and that is very deadly, for the rage trait is then fueled by determination, which doubles the power and magic of the trait." Sans explained. "so if you ever meet someone with a rage trait… run."

Toriel stepped forwards. "Thank you, Sans. That was a quiet interesting lesson, even I learned some new things."

"Now class, let's practice casting out your souls once more. On three. One, two, three!"

The classroom flashed, and two dozen souls appeared, with every positive trait being represented.

Harley glanced back at Freddy. "Kindness, huh? Nice."

"Thanks."

"Was that a pun?" Chara asked, a look of glee on her face. "Because that sounded like a pun."  
"Screw off, Chara." Harley responded, sounding exasperated.

"Now, recall them!" Toriel called out. The world flashed again, and the souls disappeared.

"Now remember." Toriel said. "That flash, the world changing black and white, happens because your brain is only focusing on one object, your soul. That will be on the test." There were nods, and some of the class took out notebooks and wrote it down.

"Now class, remember how I was telling you that some people channel magic through objects?" There were murmurs of agreement. "Harley, if you could come to the front?"

Harley pushed his chair back, and walked up to Toriel.

"Sans?"

A bone came out of the ground, one with a pointed tip. Harley grabbed it and stared at it, then at Toriel.

"Are you serious, mom? You know this can get quite… Explosive."

Toriel shrugged. "It's my school. Plus, turn around."

Harley turned, and saw a huge cluster of bones that Sans had summoned against the wall that lead outside.

"Alright, if you insist. Stand back." Toriel stepped back, and Harley gripped the bone in both hands. He stepped forward, and with a shout, the blade glowed red, and he stabbed forwards. As soon as the blade made contact, an explosion went off, and the room was filled with smoke.

Sans used his magic to summon a dozen fans, and point them towards where Harley was standing. It floated out, and you could see a massive hole in the wall where Harley had struck.

Harley coughed. "Sorry."

The class began to cheer. "That was awesome!" Freddy shouted.

Harley dropped the blade, and it sank into the ground.

"Alright, Harley. Now, as we practiced!"

He closed his eyes, and did the motion as if he was drawing a sword. Nothing happened, and her growled. He tried again, and this time, a blade of red energy appeared, with a shield in his left hand.

"You see, you can channel your magic in many ways." Toriel explained. "It's not all based on what you are good at. As you saw, Harley is better when he is physically holding an object, but he can create energy constructs too. That just means that his energy constructs will be a little weaker than his other magic. In PE, Coach Undyne will teach you how to use your magic in basic combative situations, so you can control it." The bell rang, and Toriel gave everyone a smile. "All right class, enjoy your lunch, and I will see you all on Monday." The class began to pack up and leave, and Toriel turned to Harley. "Are you going to eat lunch with Chara and Frisk?"

Harley nodded. "If I'm allowed to, yeah."

"You may." Toriel allowed. "Just tell me… How's Asgore holding up?"  
"He's nervous, but he does not regret his actions. The lawyer we hired is particularly frustrated with this, because he refuses to lie and say he does. All he keeps saying is that he had to do his duty, no matter how horrible it was."

Toriel shook her head, disgusted. "That man… I hope he wins, because I still have many things I need to say to him."

Harley raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "I'm going to go to lunch now. Chara and Frisk are waiting for me."

"Oh, yes! Go on, my child. We can talk later."

He nodded, and hugged her. "See you later, Toriel."  
Chara, Frisk, and Freddy were waiting for Harley outside of the classroom, and when he walked out to join them, Chara hugged him. "You going to eat lunch with us?"

"Yeah, why not."

"Alright." Frisk said, and looked over at Freddy as they began to walk over to the cafeteria. "You going to sit with us today?"

"Don't I always?" He responded. "You two are my favorite people, Frisk."

Frisk felt her cheeks warm up, and grinned. "Thanks, Freddy. That's sweet of you."

"Never did figure out why." Chara commented. "We are a pair of outsiders, why sit with us?"

"You guys are entertaining." He replied. "So Frisk, you going to the Halloween Dance tomorrow?"

"I was thinking about it, I just didn't know if I should."

"Want to come with... me?" He watched as Frisk turned red, and he blushed himself. "N-not like that! I mean as a fr-friend! Why would you even think that I was-"  
"Sure, Freddy." Frisk grinned happily. "I'll go with you!"

They arrived at the cafe, and Harley grabbed Freddy's arm. "Hey Frisk, Chara, where do you guys sit?" They pointed at a bench on the other end of the cafe, in the back corner. "We will meet you guys in a moment, alright?"

Chara and Frisk glanced at each other, surprised, but nodded. Harley smiled at the pair, and shooed them off with a wave of his hand. When they had walked off, Harley turned, gazing down at the shorter man.

"So, Freddy." Harley began, the smile never leaving his face, but never quite reaching his eyes, either. "Be honest with me, why  _do_ you sit with Chara and my sister?"

Freddy gulped. "W-well, Chara is really cool, and she's a nerd, like me. And Frisk… Well… I…" He mumbled something incoherently.

"Didn't quite catch that, Fred."

"I-i think I like her." He stammered.

Harley pushed Freddy back into the hallway, and out of sight of where Frisk and Chara were seated. "Let me make this clear." Harley whispered. "My sister and I? We have had a very difficult life, so the fact she is capable of liking anyone is surprising. Now, I'm not going to tell you to back off, you do seem like a good guy. Nor do I expect you two to last forever, if you guys date. But if you hurt her…" Harley leaned in, and whispered in Freddy's ear. " _I'm coming for you."_  He pulled back. "Understand?"

Freddy nodded nervously, tripping and falling as he tried to back away from Harley.

Harley actually smiled at Freddy this time. "Now, don't get me wrong. By all means, if you like her, go for it. I understand we are all young, and these sort of things don't always last. I just mean… don't cheat on her, don't lead her on, or anything else like that, okay?"

"I'm not like that, Harley." Freddy said. "It's not in my nature to hurt others like that."

"I'm just taking precautions, Freddy." Freddy nodded again, and Harley held out a hand. Freddy grabbed it, and pulled himself up. "You seem like a nice guy. It's just she has suffered enough."  
"I understand."

"Good." Harley gestured towards the Cafe. "Lead the way."

They walked in, and it wasn't too long before Harley was noticed. People began to steal glances at him again as he walked over to where Frisk and Chara were seated. He sat down beside Chara, and Freddy sat next to Frisk, who was on the other side of the bench.

"So when do you guys have PE?" Harley asked them, watching as they began to eat.

Chara pointed at the schedule taped onto her binder, and Harley glanced down at it. "Already had it? Sucks."

Frisk opened her mouth to respond, but broke off as a tall girl with dirty blond hair, and a slipped into the seat next to Harley. "Hey, Harley." She greeted him.

"Uhh… hi?" Frisk watched as Chara's hands began to tighten into fists, her fingers digging into her poor burger as ketchup and grease began to dribble down her hands.

"So Harley, there is this dance tomorrow for Halloween that I have been working really hard on setting up. I'd be honored if you could come by." She flashed him a smile. "If you aren't too busy, that is."

"Uh, i'll try." He replied. "Who are you, anyways?"

"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Emilia, I'm a senior, and the student body president."

"President, huh? Well, I'll try. I do have that trial for Asgore starting tomorrow."

She flashed him another smile, her pale grey eyes glittering mischievously. "Would you like to come and sit with me? I know a lot about politics, amongst… other things."

"Thanks for the offer, but I have to refuse." Harley replied politely. "I don't see Chara and my sister too much, so I want to sit with them."

Emilia nodded, the smile on her soft, round face falling slightly. "Alright. Well, hopefully you can come tomorrow!" She stood up, and walked back to her table.

"Whore." Chara muttered, and Harley turned to look at her.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing." Freddy and Frisk began to stifle laughs, and began to pretend to cough when they failed.

Harley gazed at Chara's hands. "Chara, you are murdering your burger."

"Oh, shit." Chara put down her food, and began to look for a napkin.

"Here, take this." Harley handed her one, and watched as she cleaned the grease off her arms and fingers. "You got some on your face, too." He grabbed another napkin, and wiped off the ketchup from her face.

Chara slapped his hand. "I got it! I don't need help!"

He shrugged. "Alright, you don't need to shout. I'm just trying to be of assistance."

He glanced away, and Frisk could see the hurt expression on his face for a brief second, before he disguised it with another smile. "How long is lunch?" He asked Frisk.

"About another fifteen minutes?" she replied.

"Why is it." Harley asked. "That you guys seem like outsiders, and yet I keep getting people coming up to me?"

"You are a sort of celebrity." Freddy replied. "And you are quite unique. People feel as you are some sort of genius, since you are an ambassador, and you are only sixteen. Also, you have the Determination trait, which is rare, and apparently, people don't think you are a spawn of Satan from having red eyes."

"Also, you are going around in clothes that show off that you are in great shape." Frisk rolled her eyes. "What else were you expecting?"

Harley glanced down absently at his clothes. "I swear, that was not my intent!" He protested. "I just like this sweater! Toriel made it for me."

"Yeah, whatever."

He shook his head. "Well, I think you guys shouldn't be outsiders. Chara is probably more intelligent than I am, and all three of us have a Determination trait."

Frisk shrugged. "I don't really care either way. And Chara is liked, she just prefers to not talk to people."

"What are you talking about?" Chara protested.

"I saw you shoot down those guys the other day."

"Why would I sit with them?" She asked. "They weren't particularly interesting, and I'm pretty sure they just like my body."

'Again." Frisk replied pointing at Chara. "You are wearing a shirt that exposes your cleavage,  _and_  them big ass tits. You aren't much better than Harley, even if you do wear that jacket all the time."

The bell rang again, and everyone began to stand, heading over to their separate classes.

Chara and Frisk kept arguing the entire walk over, and Harley walked behind them, watching as people kept stealing glances at him as he walked by.

They stopped in front of a classroom. "Alright guys, this is where I take my leave." Frisk announced, and she hugged Harley. "Are you going to be home today, or are you going to be with Asgore?"

"I'll be home." He replied. "I'm going to leave now too." He hugged Chara, and shook Freddy's hand. "I'll see you guys later." He walked away.

Chara and Freddy watched as a small crowd of people followed Harley away. She sighed, and shook her head. "You ready, Freddy?"

"Yeah, let's go to class."

* * *

_Later in the day…_

Harley was walking down the street, his hood up.

" _Ebott City is a nice place."_ He thought to himself as he exited town. " _I wish I saw more of it growing up, instead of... this place."_

"HEY, HUMAN!"

"Hellooo, darling!"

"Hey Mettaton, Papyrus." Harley greeted them. "Uh, why are you here, Mettaton?"

"I was spending time with dear old Papyrus here. Don't worry, I was just leaving!"

Mettaton gave Papyrus a flirtatious smile, and waved at Harley as he walked away.

"SO… WHY ARE WE STANDING OUTSIDE THIS RUINED HOUSE?"

"I need to see something, and I need you to come with me."

"BUT, WHY?"

"I need you to come and help me." Harley insisted.

"WITH WHAT?"

"You will see." Harley walked forwards, and opened the gate to the house.

"OKAY." Papyrus nervously followed Harley.

Harley took a deep breath, and walked over to the front door. He opened it, and walked inside.

Inside the house, he flipped a switch, and saw the familiar hallway, messy and abandoned. " _This sort of mess would have earned me a severe beating."_ Harley thought. " _I wonder what happened to these people."_

They kept walking forwards, and they reached the staircase. Climbing down into the basement, Papyrus inhaled sharply when Harley turned the lights on, and revealed the dry blood on the floor. There were two doors, one on their immediate left, and one down the hall to the right.

"HUMAN, WHAT IS THIS PLACE?" Papyrus asked nervously. "IT'S STARTING TO CREEP ME OUT."

"This is where Frisk and I lived, prior to going to the Underground." Harley reached a decision, and walked forwards, heading down the hall.

"YOU LIVED… HERE?"

"Yes." Harley reached the door at the end of the hall, and placed his hand on the doorknob.

"BUT THIS PLACE… IT'S HORRIBLE! NO PLACE FOR A CHILD!"

"I agree, Pap. This was our room." Harley turned the knob, and stepped inside.

It was just as he remembered it; the one bed off to the side, and the blanket on the floor where he slept. Dust and dry blood was everywhere, and the rotten corpse of the man Harley killed was in the corner of the room.

Papyrus gasped. "IS THAT… A DEAD HUMAN?!"

"Yes, Pap. It is."

"WHO KILLED THEM?!"

"I did."

"YOU..?"

"That was the worst day of my life, and that is saying something." Harley walked over to the rotten corpse, and spoke, gritting his teeth. "I came in here after hours of hard work, and I saw him doing something unspeakable to my sister… And I didn't think. I strangled him to death, Pap, and they punished us brutally. And they left the body in here, and we had to sleep with a rotting corpse."

"THAT SOUNDS AWFUL. WHY WOULD YOUR PARENTS DO SUCH A THING?"

"Parents? My parents abandoned me, Pap. Frisk and I were prisoners."

"SO WHEN YOU FELL UNDERGROUND… WERE YOU ACTUALLY TRYING TO…"  
"Kill ourselves? Yeah, we were." Harley voice shaking, he turned to the tall skeleton,who saw tears in the corners of Harley's eyes. "We had finally escaped, and we ran up the mountain, but they followed us with hounds. They had promised to kill us, but Frisk and I refused to give them the satisfaction, so we jumped in."  
"I didn't expect to live. I didn't want to live."

"HOW LONG WERE YOU TRAPPED HERE?"

"Six. Years." Harley replied bitterly. "Six years of torment. And in mere weeks, these people vanished."

"IF THIS PLACE FILLS YOU WITH BAD MEMORIES, THEN WHY ARE WE HERE?"

"I needed to make sure they were actually gone, Pap. I needed closure." Harley got to his feet, and glared at the corpse. "Let's go, Papyrus, I need to get home and rest."

They exited the house, and Harley turned to face it again. " _I will return. I need to see that room…"_ He sighed.

"Papyrus, don't tell anyone we were here, okay?"

"OK." Papyrus hugged Harley. "I'M ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU, HUMAN."

"Thanks, Papyrus." He sighed. "Let's go."

* * *

_(Next Day)_

"So what is this I hear about a date, Frisk?" Toriel asked, as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of her.

Frisk glared at Chara. "It's not a date, he's just a friend. So I'd appreciate it if Chara stopped spreading rumors about me."

"Hey!" Chara cried. "I didn't say anything!"

"She didn't tell me," Toriel agreed. "Harley did. Although the fact that you hid it from me is… quite suspicious." Toriel gave Frisk a mischievous smile, and ruffled her hair.

"Hey!" Frisk protested.

"What about you, Chara? Are you going to go?"

"Yeah, probably." Chara shrugged. "Someone's got to chaperone, right?"

"What about Harley?"

"He said he will try to, depending when today's court session ends."

Toriel nodded, a worried expression crossing her face. "I hope all goes well. I may be angry at him, but I don't want Asgore to go to prison."

"Harley and the lawyers will convince them to let him free." Chara reassured her. "He was doing his best, after all."

Toriel shook her head. "If they can't even convince me of that, how will they convince all of those humans?"

* * *

"Today's trial, the City of Ebott vs. Asgore, King of Monsters, who is facing multiple accounts of homicide."

"Standing beside him is the ambassador between Humans and Monsters, Harley Vogel."

"The opening statements have been made. This court will now take a few moments to review."

Harley wiped his brow as he stepped out of the courtroom. " _Damn."_  he thought. " _That was a terrible start."_

"I'm sorry." Asgore's lawyer, Oliver Allen, said. "I thought we were going to have that one, but they beat us."

"It's fine, Mr. Allen." Harley replied curtly. "It's going to be hard to convince the jury that he had no choice but to kill six kids."

"You guys convinced me." he replied.

"Yes, but most of the jury are females, possibly mothers." Harley replied. "If they are anything like Toriel, that is going to increase the difficulty by tenfold."

Oliver frowned. "You're right. I didn't think about that."

"And it's possible that some of those woman could be the mothers of some of the kids."

"The last kid to fall before you, was ten years ago, so it's definitely a possibility."

"Let's hope not. We don't need to deal with that too."

The courtroom doors opened, and Harley stepped in again,

"This court is in session." The judge declared. "Now, would you-"

An explosion sounded, and Harley was thrown forwards.

* * *

The table shook, and a loud  _BOOM_ was heard in the distance.

"The hell was that?" Chara cried out, and jumped up. She ran over to the window, and she could see smoke rising from a few blocks away.

Toriel ran over to the television, and switched on the news.

" _Moments ago, an explosion went off in the Ebott City Courthouse. The police have been called, and emergency services are enroute. Seeing as today was the opening day of the trial against Asgore Dreemurr, one could only wonder if this was an attempt to kill the king."_

Chara and Frisk locked eyes.

"Harley." Frisk whispered.

Chara ran to the front door, and threw on her green jacket. "It's only a few blocks away!"

Frisk pulled on her sweater, and the two of them sprinted out.

"Kids!" Toriel cried out, but they were already long gone.

* * *

Harley opened his eyes, the world spinning around him. He could hear screams, and he felt a body underneath him, as a sharp pain stabbed at his side. He looked down, and he could see his suit was soaked in blood. His blood. With a groan, he struggled to his feet, and he saw that the person underneath him was a police officer. He took the gun out of the holster, and switched off the safety.

"Oh, there you are." A voice drawled out. "Harley Vogel, the wielder of Determination."

Harley looked over, and saw a man in a uniform that read  _NHDS_  pulling off his helmet. He gasped, and raised the handgun. "You!" For the man under the mask was none other than the man who kept him and Frisk captured for years.

"Me." The man agreed, and he summoned a shield made of Soul energy, energy that glowed pink.

The Soul of Fear.

* * *

Chara and Frisk sprinted towards the courthouse, pushing through the crowds of screaming people as the struggled to reach it.

Someone seized Chara's arm. "You! Chara Dreemurr! Don't go over there!"

"Harley is there!" She cried. "I have to!"

"A group called the Non-Human Defensive Squad is responsible for this attack!" He shouted. "If you go there, they will kill you!"

She wrenched her arm out of his grasp, and continued to run. When she arrived, she saw that a massive group of people in uniforms saying  _NHDS_ had surrounded the building, and she gasped in horror when she saw that some of them were covered in dust, and others were fighting monsters.

"No!" She screamed, and her and Frisk charged into the fray. Using magic to propel herself, Chara leaped in the air, and summoned a flurry of knives, hailing them down on the men in uniform. Frisk summoned a sword and shield, and used her magic to place a magic shield around her body. She then followed Chara, running to the aid of a small monster who was being attacked.

The men attacking them were wielding a combination of guns and blades, and some of them were even using magic to fight.

" _What the-?"_ Frisk rammed into one of them with her shield, and slammed her blade into his chest, remorselessly killing him.

LV 2.

Chara hailed her blades onto men, aiming for their hands, feet, and shoulders, as she aimed to disarm and disable the attackers. She landed on the ground, and summoned two more blades, and danced around her attackers, cutting and impaling their hands as she dodged their blows.

She couldn't dodge forever, and it wasn't long before someone got a lucky shot in, shooting her in the shoulder. She stumbled back, and held her wound as the men surrounded her, guns held up at the ready.

Chara pulled her hoodie up, and shouted out, "Why are you doing this?"

"We are the Non-Human Defensive Squad, Chara Dreemurr." One of them replied. "You and your monster friends should have never left the Underground."

A ball of green energy struck the man who had spoken, and he stumbled back. They turned, and Freddy was standing there.

"Chara, run!" He shouted.

Instead, Chara took advantage of the distraction he had provided, and summoned another volley, striking them in the elbows and kneecaps. The men screamed in pain, and fell to the ground, bleeding from multiple places.

Chara ran forwards, and Freddy ran to meet her.

"Chara, you are one of the last people who should be here!" He shouted over the sounds of combat.

"Harley is inside!" She screamed. "I need to get to him!"

An explosion sounded from one of the groups of combatants, and Freddy glanced over, worried. "Where's Frisk?!"

"She's fighting!" Chara replied. "Get clear, Freddy!"

He didn't listen, instead charging over to where the explosion had come from. With a sigh, Chara followed.

Frisk was on full attack mode, not thinking of what she was doing, just acting. She swung her blade, lopping one of the attackers legs off, and engaged in a quick duel with another, ending off by impaling him in his eye. As he fell to the floor, she realized that she had been surrounded by men with riot shields, and in response, she slammed her blade into the ground, creating a massive explosion that sent them all flying back. She walked over to one of them, and lifted her sword in the air, and began to bring it down onto his head, only for Chara to catch her arm in mid-air.

"Frisk!" She exclaimed. "Stop! You are lifting you LV!"

"I don't care!" Frisk snarled. "These men are killing our friends!"

"So disable them! Don't become them!"

Frisk growled, but lowered her sword. "Fine. Let's go." She turned around, and ran back into the fray.

* * *

Harley kept the gun trained on the man who tormented him and his sister, the man who had held them captive for years.

"Why?" He asked. "Why are you here?"

"I heard that you had been found, kid. And I told you what I would do to you and your sister if you ran away, now didn't I?"

Harley pulled the trigger on the gun, and the man deflected it with his shield.

"Please, kid. I have the Soul of Fear. You cannot beat me, because no matter how Determined you are, you fear me."

Harley laughed, and he lowered the gun. "Fear you?" He laughed some more. "You think I fear you? That is rich!" He began to laugh some more, and he shook his head. "No… I don't fear you. I haven't feared you for a long time. I feared what you could do to Frisk, because you had the power to harm her, but now…" Harley chuckled. "You don't even have that. Frisk is capable of taking care of herself. So let me ask you this." He raised the gun, and channeled his magic into the clip. " _Whose too weak now?_ " He fired, and the force of the bullet combined with the magic Harley was channeling created a massive blast that the man just barely defected. It slammed into the ground, and exploded, creating a massive crater, smoke rising everywhere.

The man stumbled back, and gazed into the smoke, scanning for Harley. It didn't take long to find him, for his red eyes were glowing with power.

"I can see you." Harley growled, and fired again, aiming to where the man's pink eyes were shining. The shot slammed into his shield head-on, and he was launched backwards, out of the hall, and through the wall, right outside into the combat below. Harley calmly walked over to the hole, and gazed down at the combat below.

He saw Frisk and Chara fighting men and women in uniform that matched the Man's, all reading  _NHDS._ He took aim at a large group of them, fired.

* * *

" _Harley Vogel has appeared, and is shooting down upon the terrorist group calling themselves the Non-Human Defensive Squad. Meanwhile, the princesses of Monsters, Chara and Frisk Dreemurr, are fighting on the ground."_

" _Police have entered the scene, but are quickly being taken down by the NHDS, who have several people who can use magic."_

" _Reports show that one person in the NHDS has attracted Harley's attention, a man with a strange Pink Soul."_

Sans's eyes shot open.

"wait, what!"

"SANS, THE HUMANS NEED OUR HELP!"

" _a pink Soul?"_ Sans was shocked. " _How the hell did a human already corrupt his Soul without attracting attention? his LV must be through the roof!"_

"SANS!" Papyrus shouted.

"i know, pap! hold on to me!" Papyrus grabbed onto his arm, and they fell into a shortcut.

* * *

Chara jumped back, panting in exhaustion.

There were so many people here, too many against them. Most of the monsters that they were trying to protect were killed, so it was really just her and Frisk fighting, with Freddy helping the best he could.

That was before Harley showed up. He blasted a hole through the wall, and began shooting magically charged bullets into the groups of NHDS, causing mass havoc everywhere, causing Chara and Frisk to be seperated.

That's when she saw him. The man with the pink SOUL, the man from Harley's nightmares.

"You…" She growled, and shot forward, barreling into him. However, a moment later, she was pulled off, and Harley was standing there, glowering down at him.

"Move, Chara."

The man grimace, and let out a shout, sending a blast of pink energy at the two of them, knocking them back. When they stood, the man had fled, leaving the rest of the NHDS to disengage and retreat, too.

Frisk began to run after them, but Harley caught her around her waist, and pulled her back. "No, Frisk. Let them go."

Sans appeared next to them, with Papyrus beside him.

"kids, are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, we are alright." Harley replied.

"i heard something about a pink SOUL?"

"Later. We need to find Asgore."

They headed over to the front door, and they saw people being pulled out on stretchers. And lying on two of them lay Asgore. The King of the Monsters.


	33. Time to Dance

Harley sat at the table in Toriel's house, watching the news as she tended to his wounds.

" _Harley Vogel vanished shortly after the combat, taking both princesses with him. He seemed upset that Asgore Dreemurr had been injured in the attack, and requested that the EMS send him to a monster healer."_

He shook his head, and turned the tv off as Sans entered the room.

"How's Chara and Frisk?" Harley asked him. "And that guy, Freddy?"

"they are fine, kid." He replied. "the one who had the worst injuries was chara, and pap has already healed her up. tori, how are his wounds?"

"Better." Toriel replied. "It seemed as if his only real injuries were from the initial explosion."

Sans nodded. "may you excuse us for a moment, then?"

She hesitated before nodding, allowing Harley to rise, and walk over to Sans. The two of them stepped out of the room, and walked upstairs in silence, heading over to Chara, Harley, and Frisk's rooms.

Sans swung open the door to Harley's room, and Freddy, Chara, and Frisk were waiting for them, alongside Papyrus, who looked really worried.

"alright, kids." Sans began. "we need to talk."

"Should I leave?" Freddy asked.

Sans began to nod, but Harley shook his head. "This guy seems ready to go all in with us." Harley told him. "And he has already fought the NHDS beside Chara and Frisk. He's going to be almost as big of a target as us."

Sans shrugged. "it's your guys choice. anyhow, i want to address the biggest thing concerning me, that being the man with the pink soul."

"There was a guy with a Pink Soul?" Frisk asked. "Who was he?"

"It was him, Frisk." Harley replied quietly. "The man."

"Y-you don't mean…" She stammered, and Harley simply nodded. Frisk's face turned white as she stumbled back, and sat on Harley's bed. "No…" She muttered, and covered her face. "How..? How does he wield magic?"

"I don't know, Frisk."

"In this timeline, it has only been a little over a month since we escaped!" Frisk cried out, tears leaking out of her eyes. "How the hell does he already have a corrupt Soul!?"

"who the hell is he?" Sans demanded. "and what do you mean, escaped?"

"I'd like to know that as well." Freddy stated, his blue-grey eyes hardening as he rose, and walked over to Frisk, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Harley glanced at Frisk, whose face was lowered, tears streaming down as she gazed at her hands, and then at Chara, who nodded encouragingly. He sighed, and pulled of his grey T-shirt, exposing his scarred torso.

Freddy inhaled sharply, and Harley turned around, revealing the scars on his back. They saw the writing that had been engraved into it, alongside the lines that he created to cross it out.

Chara didn't want to see the terrible wounds again, so she looked away, instead seeing how the others reacted. Frisk didn't look up, but Freddy gasped, Papyrus covered his mouth, and Sans's eyes went dark with shock.

"holy fuck…" The smaller skeleton swore softly. He stepped forwards to examine them closer, and he could see bruises lining Harley's shoulders and forearms, half healed welts that wrapped around his back, and scars everywhere. On his chest, stomach, arms, back, and more lining the lower of his torso, continuing down his legs.

"HUMAN. YOU SHOWED ME THE HOUSE, BUT… YOU DIDN'T SAY HOW BAD YOU SUFFERED."

Harley laughed bitterly, and turned around to face them. "That's the thing. This isn't even the worst of what they did… What they did to Frisk was worse. Way worse. They beat her… they marked her… and they raped her. For years."

Sans froze, and turned to face Frisk, who had covered her face with her hands as tears dripped from in between them.

"they... did that to her?"

Harley nodded, and he walked over to his drawer, and pulled on a white shirt. "We were with that terrible man since we were ten, and he did it to her up until the day we escaped."

"Of course, I had my fair share of it, but I didn't bother me that much. The thoughts of Frisk being violated enraged me beyond any care for myself, and all I could think of was escape."

"so that's why you were so easily corrupted!" Sans realized.

"Corrupted?" Freddy asked, confused.

"It's a long story, Fred." Chara told him. "But to make it short, Harley and Frisk have the power to SAVE, LOAD, RESET, and in extreme cases, ERASE the timeline. And once upon a time, in a different timeline, Harley and I were corrupted, him by his own Determination, and I… by a monster."

"Which one?"

"By me." Frisk said, wiping her tears. "I commited Genocide, and it corrupted Chara, but neither of us could pass Sans. We became the Monster and the Demon."

"Wait, I don't understand. How was Chara corrupted? And where was Harley?"

"he didn't exist yet."

"What?"  
"harley appeared by accident, and his appearance changed so many things. he was the glitch for a couple timelines, before this one, when he was properly integrated. and chara is chara dreemurr, the girl who vanished a hundred years ago. she's supposed to be dead, and for a few hundred resets, she was trapped in frisk's head. then she was moved to harley's, and eventually, he used his own determination to pull her out of the void, restoring her body in the process."

Freddy held his head. "Ugh, this is all giving me a headache."

"None of it matters anymore, Freddy." Harley told him. "Everyone in this room deserved redemption, and we all redeemed ourselves."

"I AM WITH HARLEY." Papyrus spoke up. "IF THEY WERE ALL STILL EVIL, WOULD THEY HAVE SAVED US? BESIDES, I DON'T THINK ANY OF YOU WERE TRULY EVIL… HARLEY AND FRISK HAD TERRIBLE LIVES, AND CHARA WAS CORRUPTED BY FRISK. NONE OF IT WAS YOUR FAULTS."  
"that may be, pap."

"What were they?" Freddy asked. "What were your negative traits?"

"Mine is Rage." Harley told him. "And Chara's was Hatred."

"And Frisk?"

"She… she never had one." Harley admitted. "And while we are on the topic, whose LV is elevated? I'm getting a strange deja vu radiating in this room, but I can't tell from who."

"Are you sure?" Frisk asked.

"Frisk, is it you?"

"No, why would you say such a thing?" She demanded.

Sans sighed, and he thrusted out his arm, forcibly pulling out every soul human Soul in the room. The one Kindness and three Determination Souls now floated in front of the humans, with their HP and LVs underneath them.

And two of them had increased Levels of Violence. LV4 for Frisk, and LV2 for Chara.

"Why, Chara? Why, Frisk?" Harley asked, furious.

"It was an accident." Chara told him regretfully, "I was doing my best to wound, and not kill, but a few bled out, and it increased my LV."

"And you, Frisk?"  
She shrugged. "I was doing what was necessary, Harley."

"what was necessary?" Sans asked furiously.

"How is it," Harley inquired, "That I faced the man who tormented us for years, and I didn't kill him? That, knowing what could happen to me, and what I could do to others, that I chose to restrain myself?"

Frisk stood. "Well, let's see, Harley. When your LV increases, you get corrupted. When Chara's LV increases," She pointed at Chara's SOUL, and at the very edge, the faintest sliver of the black of Hatred could be seen, "She gets corrupted! But me? I stay in control!" She gestured at her Soul, which was still shining bright red. "That is the difference between us, Harley. You may have more Determination, and grow in power faster than me when you get corrupted by that Rage Soul, but I have always been the greatest wielder of Determination! I have never been corrupted by my own power!"

Sans shook his head. "seeing what you have done in the past, kid, that is nothing to brag about."

"Oh, shut up Sans."

"That is besides the point, Frisk!" Harley shouted. "We swore to redeem ourselves, and not kill!"

"We swore to not kill monsters! The filthy humans attacking them, they are a completely different manner!"

"Calm down, everyone. Just calm down." Freddy said.

"YES, PLEASE STOP ALL THE SHOUTING."

Harley growled. "No more killing, Frisk."

"Harley, these are the creatures that-"

"No. More. Killing."

"They are killing our-!"

"What don't you understand, Frisk!  _No more killing_!" Frisk glared at him in silence, and he kept speaking, lowering his voice in the process. "Not because I believe that these humans deserve our Mercy, Frisk, but to protect your own Soul."

She glared at Harley for a few more moments, then sighed. "...fine. I see what you're saying. I'll try, okay?"

"That's all I am asking for."

The room fell into an awkward silence, with Frisk avoiding Harley's gaze. After a few moments, Sans sighed and shook his head, releasing the magic that was holding onto the human's Souls.

"well, what do we do next?"

Harley checked his bedside clock, which read 16:00(4pm) "Well, we all have a dance to go to at six."

"What?" Chara's gazed at him, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "After everything that just happened?"  
"That is precisely why. We cannot allow this NHDS to prevent us from living our lives." Harley walked to his closest, pulled out a black suit, and tossed it at Freddy. "Here." He handed him a box of shoes too. "Go to Toriel, tell her I asked for her to resize them for you. Then call home, and let your family know you are safe with the Dreemurrs."

Freddy nodded. "Alright. Thank you." He walked out of the room to do as he was instructed, and Sans and Papyrus silently followed him out, leaving Harley alone with Frisk and Chara.

Frisk cleared her throat. "Well, I suppose I should go get ready then." She rose, and followed Papyrus out of the room.

That left just Chara and Harley.

"Safe with the Dreemurrs?" Chara shook her head. "The poor kid's parents are going to be screaming for him to come home!"

"The way those news stations were presenting it, the attack was on Harley Vogel, not Chara and Frisk Dreemurr. You guys just simply happened to be there."

Chara nodded, and the room fell silent once more, with the only sounds coming from Harley as he rifled through his closet.

"So…" Chara shifted her weight awkwardly from foot to foot. "How are you feeling. Harley?"

He shrugged. "I'm alright. I'm just worried about Frisk. She fears that man, and yet I can't help but thinking…"

"That if she sees him, she will kill him?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She already killed so many from the NHDS, and has no regrets about doing so. She feels justified because they were harming monsters, so what will stop her when we see him next?"

"We will, Harley." Chara reassured him, and she walked over to where he was standing. "It will be up to us to keep her in line, and I know we can do it." She patted him on the back reassuringly.

He sighed. "I hope you are right, Chara. We all worked so hard to redeem ourselves, and I don't want us to become lost once more."

"I know Harley, I know. I myself need to be more careful, and I know I can keep my Hatred at bay, just as you are keeping your Rage under control."

"I keep it under control because I have to." Harley replied as he continued his search through the closet. "Remember how destructively violent I got while I was controlled by my Rage? Imagine the havoc I could wreck if I allowed myself to go so far." He turned around to face her, holding a dark blue suit with the delta rune sewn in at the shoulders, and a cyan dress shirt in his hands. "And I can't let myself do that again. I must be the master of my power, not the other way around."

"You've changed so much, Harley."

"So have you, Chara. Remember the first time we were alone?"  
"The Froggits? Yeah." She shook her head and laughed. "I tried to seduce you so many times in that timeline, but you just weren't having any of it. You kept saying-"

"'That's my sister's body.'" Harley chuckled. "Yeah, I remember."

"So you're really going to this dance?" Chara asked him.

Harley's smile faded, and he nodded. "Yeah. Clearly I have enemies, and I refuse to allow them to believe I went into hiding."

"You don't have to do this, you know." Chara told him. "You already lead both Frisk and I out of the darkness, all while fighting your own corruption and pain. You went through hell to SAVE everyone, even engaging Asriel in combat when Frisk was down for the count, despite knowing you couldn't beat him."

"I know, Chara."

"You don't have to lead this fight too, Harley. Take a step back, and let us deal with it this time."

He shook his head. "When I agreed to be ambassador, I knew that there were risks. I never expected it to be anything as huge as this, but it is what it is. They came looking for me, Chara. Asgore was right there, unable to defend himself, but they targeted me. I am in this fight, like it or not." Harley shrugged. "It is what it is. I'm used to fighting for my life."

"I know… I just wish it didn't have to be this way." Chara turned, and began to leave. "I have to go get ready. I'll see you in a bit, alright?" She walked out, and Harley stared after her.

"So do I, Chara… So do I."

* * *

Frisk stepped out of her room, half-dressed and looking for Chara.

Instead, she found Freddy.

"Whoops!" She almost slammed right into him, and he jumped back, covering his eyes.

"F-frisk!" He stammered.

"What?" She asked, staring at him.

"You're barely dressed!"

Frisk glanced down at herself, and back up at him, evidently confused. "Yeah, and? I'm in my own home."

"Yeah, but you have… guests. And another male lives here."

"And?"

Freddy stared at Frisk.

"Frisk, do you really see no issue with any of this?"  
Frisk waved her hand. "Look, I see what you are getting at, Freddy. Any normal person would be… embarrassed, to say the least, to be seen by another person while nude. Or partially nude. But I, to put it simply, don't really care." Frisk shrugged. "I spent the entirety of my puberty being dragged around with my body on display, so I lost my sense of shame  _real_  quick. As for my brother, he and I were forced to sleep beside each other, huddling for warmth while naked, because we were being punished, so… yeah."

Freddy blinked, unsure of how to respond. "I'm sorry, Frisk. I didn't… I didn't mean to unearth any memories."

She gave him a gentle smile. "Don't worry about it, Freddy. I know it's hard to understand things that you didn't go through,  _especially_  when it is a situation as disgusting as this one." Freddy stared at the floor, and Frisk reached up, putting a hand on his shoulder. He slowly lifted his gaze, meeting her eyes, and saw that she was still giving him that gentle smile.

"It's okay, Freddy." Frisk said softly. "Don't worry too much about it, you didn't realize."

Freddy chuckled lightly. "...okay. I'll be more careful, alright?" He placed his hand on hers for the briefest of moments, before letting it go and walking away, heading towards the guest bedroom.

Frisk gazed after him, still smiling. " _And… I'll keep understanding, when you blunder…"_

"The hell you smiling at?"

Frisk jumped, and Chara laughed, glancing down the hall. "The Fredster? Heh, that's adorable."

"And what about you and Harley?" Frisk demanded. "You nearly killed a burger yesterday!"

Chara's cheeks flushed. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" Frisk opened her mouth, but Chara cut her off. "Can you move? I need to get ready!"

Frisk stepped aside, laughing, and Chara rushed in, tearing off her shirt as she began to get changed. Still chuckling, Frisk followed suit.

* * *

"kid? may i come in?"

"Sure."

Sans walked into Harley's room, and jumped onto Harley's bed. Harley was standing in front of his mirror, trimming his beard.

"heh, got an issue with your hair?"

"It got singed in the fight." Harley muttered. "And if I'm going to this fucking dance, I'm going to look nice."

"you don't sound very happy about going." Sans noted. "even though it was your idea."

"Frisk was looking forwards to this." Harley told him. "And if I don't go because of what happened, neither will she, and I don't want that to happen. And like I told Chara, I refuse to let him and the NHDS believe I am hiding from them."

"so what's pissing you off?"

"Well, when I went to the school yesterday, there were people constantly flirting with me, and in awe of me, and yet they treated Frisk like garbage." Harley put the razor down, and turned to face Sans. "I found it quite annoying."

"well, you're famous, kid. and all little humans want to be seen with a celebrity."

Harley rolled his eyes, and sat next to Sans. "Whatever. What do you want? I'm sure you didn't come up here just to hear me complain."

"actually, that's exactly why i came here. you have a habit of hiding how you feel, so i came here to listen to you."

"Did Toriel send you?"

"wha, can't i be concerned for a friend?" When Harley remained silent, Sans placed a hand over his chest. "that hurts, right here."

"You don't have anything there except bone, Sans."

"yea, you got me there. guess i am pretty heartless." Sans let out a small chuckle. "anyways, no. no one sent me, but pap did tell me about your guys little trip, so i was pretty concerned."

"I told him not to tell anyone."

"and normally, he wouldn't have. but given the circumstances, its probably for the best that he did."

Harley shrugged. "Yeah, probably."

"be honest with me, kid. what are your thoughts about this nhds?"

"It's only been a month since we broke the barrier, Sans. How the hell did humans manage to corrupt their SOULs, gather up an army of magic users and non, and attack us? It just doesn't make any sense."

"i know kid, it's been bugging me too. somehow, these humans were prepared for us… maybe not all humans lost the ability to use magic, just most of them."

"That is possible."

"and let me ask you this. in all of your years of captivity, did you ever look at that man in the eyes?"

"Not that I can remember." Harley admitted. "I was always more worried about where his hands were, and if he was holding something to beat me with."

"so if my theory is correct, then maybe he had this power for a while."  
Harley shook his head, but didn't reply.

"do you have a date to the dance?" Harley shook his head, and Sans grinned. "well, perfect. neither does chara."

"I'm not asking Chara to the dance, Sans."

"why not, kid? you're just friends, after all. unless…" his grin turned sly, "you like her."

"Shut up, Sans. "

"heh, i won't press the matter. just remember, the pretty princess won't be around forever." Sans jumped off the bed, and gestured for Harley to follow, but he didn't. Instead, he just stared at Sans.

"Y'know…" Harley said. "The last time I spoke to him, Gaster said something pretty interesting to me. I told him on how I used to be experimented on, and he said 'DT Experiments' and said that the DT I was injected with changed my eye color, and laid hidden recesses of DT in my body, DT that shouldn't be there."

"yes, i figured that you had an abnormality in you body that messed with your soul." Sans replied. "but we removed it when we rescued chara."

"No, all we did was drain my SOUL of most of its DT, in order to allow Chara to live, remember? So if I still have all that DT, and all that needs to happen is to trigger it, we can use it!"

"im not following. if we flood you with dt, you will be at risk of permanent death any time you use magic."

"Which is why I wouldn't keep it. We can use it… To recall him from the Void."

Sans stared at Harley, dead silent. He shook his head. "look, im touched kid, but what you are saying sounds incredibly dangerous, even more than the last time."

"Yes, but-"

"let me ask this. how exactly would we trigger the dt in you?"

"You would have to try to kill me." Harley told him. "Stab me or something. Just don't touch my SOUL. As long as I don't immediately use all of the DT after it forces my body to heal, we can use that to restore-"

"let me stop you there." Sans's eyes had gone dark. "i refuse to harm you, kid, and forbid you from getting someone else to help you with this insane plan. i don't approve, pap won't approve, and i know gaster sure as hell won't, either. what if your wrong? what if you simply die?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take!" Harley argued.  
"i'm not. end of story. you are my friend, harley, and i'm not abouta let you go off and do something stupid. what if you do die? you gonna leave chara and frisk here alone? they need you, we need you. understand?"

His jaw tightening in frustration, Harley nodded, and Sans relaxed, his eyes reappearing. "good. we will figure out another way to restore him, i promise. But for now, let's do what he would want us to, and live our lives, huh?" he gestured out the door, and Harley followed him out, grabbing his watch off the counter and shutting the door behind him as he left.

With Sans in the lead, the two of them walked down the stairs, into the kitchen where Toriel, Frisk, and Freddy were waiting. Frisk was talking to someone on Harley's phone,, an annoyed expression on her face. Frisk was wearing a slim sleeveless blue dress that went down to her knees, with yellow V etched into the fabric on her belly, and the part of the Delta rune that symbolized the Angel on the center of her chest. Freddy had Harley's suit, which Toriel had shrunk and fitted to Freddy's smaller form, and gave him a green tie to wear over the white dress shirt under his black suit.

When Frisk spotted Harley walking down the stairs, she said, in a very annoyed tone, "Here he come now." She pulled the receiver away from her face and without a warning, tossed the phone to Harley, who caught it by the tips of his fingers.

"Hello." He said into the receiver. "This is Harley Vogel speaking. May I ask who this is?"

"Hi Harley! It's Emilia. We met yesterday? At lunch?"

"Hello Emilia. I don't want to be rude, but this number is listed to be used only for professional purposes, so if it's for anything else, I will have to decline."

"I apologize, but there is no other way I know to contact you quickly." She replied. "May I just have a few moments of your time?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"The student council, in light of the news story covering your fight with the NHDS, have decided to dedicate half of tonight's funds to treating the monsters wounded in the attack. It's going to be in the King's and your names, and we would be delighted to have you as an honoured guest."

"What time would you need me to be there by?"

"Well, the dance starts at six, so at five thirty?"

Harley checked his watch, which read 17:20(5:20 pm) and sighed. "Yeah, I'll be there soon."

"Awesome, thanks! I'll be seeing you soon." She hung up the phone, and Harley stuck his phone in his pocket with a sigh.

"What's wrong? Frisk asked. "What did she want?"

"For me to come early."

"what, no dinner first?"

"Fuck off, Sans." Frisk and Harley said in unison, and the skeleton's grin widened. "They decided to make half the dance's funds to go to the treatment of the wounded monsters, and declared it to be in Asgore's and my name."

"And she invited you as an honored guest?"

"Yeah." Harley sighed. "You know, I wanted to go somewhere with you guys for a change, instead of popping up late or showing up early. But I guess it can't be helped. Sans, care to give me a lift?"

"sure thing kid. c'mere." Harley walked over to Sans, and grabbed his shoulder.

"I'll see you guys there." Harley told them. "Bye, mom."

Frisk watched as they vanished into a shortcut, and shook her head. "Chara isn't going to be too happy when she comes down here."

"He's always so busy." Toriel commented. "Of course she's not going to be happy."

Frisk and Freddy exchanged glances. " _Of course she doesn't notice._ " Frisk thought.

" _Frisk is quite beautiful in that dress."_ Freddy smiled, and he watched as Frisk rose, and walked over to the staircase. "Oi!" She shouted "Chara! Hurry up!"

* * *

Harley and Sans appeared in front of Toriel's School.

"best of luck, kid."

"You have to leave?"

"yeah. gotta bring the others in a bit, right? see ya." Sans released Harley, and vanished into another shortcut.

Harley took a deep breath, and walked over to the front doors, pausing when he saw Emilia, who was surrounded by a group of students all chatting with one another.

" _How do I get myself into these situations?"_ He wondered, and he sighed.

"Mr. Vogel! Over here!" One of the kids surrounding Emilia had noticed him, and was waving, beckoning him over.

" _Here goes nothing."_ Gathering up his nerves, Harley walked over to the group, and smiled at the adolescent who was waving at him.

"Hello." He greeted them.

"Where did you come from?" Another member of the group queried. "We have the best view of the parking lot and the path from up here, but none of us saw you show up!"

"A friend dropped me off." Harley said, and he directed his attention to Emilia. "So, what is it you need me to do?"

"We'd like you to greet everyone with a little speech-type thing around 6:30." She replied. "Nothing too long or formal, just thanking them for coming. Other than that." She gave him a dazzling smile. "You simply being here until it's over is enough! Just try to enjoy yourself, please. I know you must be stressed from earlier, so you can come to one of us if you need help relaxing!"  
"Uhhh, okay. Thank you." Harley replied politely. "You are very kind."

"It's the least I can do, for one risking so much." She hooked her arm around his, and began to lead him into the building. "Let's go inside, and after the final preparations, we can sit and get to know each other better!"

* * *

Despite Emilia's protests, Harley refused to sit while everyone bustled around, getting together the last-minute decorating, setting up refreshments, and to Harley's amazement, communicating with the Ebott City Police Deputy that was in charge of the security that was there.

"It was something we had set up in the first place." Emilia explained to him. "But it was only going to be a few cops at first. After he found out you were here, and that the Dreemurrs were probably going to show, he insisted on getting more cops together to keep an eye on the place. He's even working with Coach Undyne, who was the -"

"Captain of the Royal Guard." Harley nodded, forcing a polite smile to stay on his face. "Yeah, I know."

"I guess you would, having been Underground and all." She replied. "Wait, did Undyne try to kill you? I know that Asgore was after your SOUL while you were down there."

"No. Undyne saved my life." Emilia stood quiet, waiting for him to elaborate, but he stood silent, his smile fading as he remembered how he met Undyne for real.

_-standing on a bridge hanging over the abyss, crossing spear to sword with her-_

Harley shook his head, attempting to force the memory away. Thankfully, Emilia hadn't noticed his moment of distraction, as she had walked away, saying something about changing clothes.

Harley looked from side to side, and realized that he was pretty much alone in gymnasium, as most of the council had left to change into their nice clothes. He sighed, walked over to one of the chairs, and sat down. He had his back to the wall, this way he could see the main entrance.

_-Undyne had a broad grin on her face as a volley of knives approached her dying form-_

" _Stop it."_ Harley scolded himself. " _The past is in the past, and all has been forgiven."_

Harley had been tortured by nightmares for weeks, seeing both visions of the past and the horrors of the future that he had been shown. And as of late, they had begun to seep into his waking moments too, causing him to seem absent-minded on more than one occasion.

It sucked, and Harley hated it, but what could he do?

Surprisingly, he wasn't waiting long before Emilia walked out, wearing a long sleeved black dress with white stripes encircling her arms and her waist. The skirt fell down past her ankles, covering her feet when she stood still, and the collar dipped in a V, showing off a bit of her ample chest. Harley glanced away, embarrassed for having noticed that last part.

Her pale grey eyes shining, she beamed at Harley as she strode over to him, and pulled up a chair, sitting in front of him.

"You look good, Emilia." Harley told her.

"Thanks. These are my favorite colors to wear."

"They are mine, too."  
She giggled. "Yeah, I can tell. You usually wear a black jacket and white shirt, or a patterned sweater like you did yesterday, right?" Harley nodded. "I have to admit, I was surprised to see you weren't rocking the old black and white today."

"I decided to change this up a bit." He tugged at his sleeve. "Although I didn't quite realize that I match two different SOUL traits now."  
"Yeah, and one of them are mine." Emilia reached for the collar of his dress shirt, and rubbed the side of his neck. "Cyan, for Patience."

"You have the Soul of Patience? That's pretty cool." Harley told her. "Must be a useful trait to have as a leader."

"So does Determination."

Harley leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowing. "All creatures have Determination. The only thing that sets me apart from the rest of you is that my body generates it in such high quantities, I can use if to perform impossible feats, and it helps me to fight through turbulent times without a single thought given to surrender."

Harley shook his head. "But being as determined as I am isn't always such a good thing. More than once, I have been in situations where surrender was the better option, but I refused, because I was too Determined to prove myself the better. More than once, it has almost gotten me killed."

" _More than once, it did get me killed."_ Harley thought.

She shrugged. "Having the Patience SOUL had its drawbacks, too. Everyone expects me to think about every little thing I do, to take my time and consider all of the consequences, and usually, I do. But every now and again, I want to be able to cut loose and do something reckless, you know?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I have so many people expecting so much out of me, and I know I cannot afford not even a single misstep. And now with this new threat, the NHDS, showing up? I have so much that I can lose if something goes wrong, and I cannot risk allowing them to win."

The front doors opened, and students began to walk in, either alone, or arm in arm with a date. Emilia and Harley glanced over at the people walking in, and Harley was happy that, at least for now, no one had noticed him.

"I need to ask you a favor, Harley." Emilia said, and he faced her once more. She looked nervous, but continued to speak. "I know that Coach Undyne will be teaching us how to use our magic to defend ourselves, but she's only giving the basics. So… could you teach me how to fight?"

Harley gave her a blank stare. "I'm no expert, Emilia."

"Yes, but you know more then you let on!" She replied indignantly. "You know the many uses of magic, right?"

"Healing, projection, manipulation of certain elemental forces, creation of constructs, imbuing items with magical energy, etc." Harley nodded. "Yeah, I know them."

"Do you know that I only know three?" She told him "Healing, constructs, and imbuing? You are already leaps and bounds ahead of all the other classes, Harley. You can teach me!"

"Well, I don't exactly know how Patience SOULs draw their magic."

"We have to remain in control of ourselves." Emilia told him. "And be prepared to use as little energy as required with each magical strike, for the combats can be long and drawn out."

"And using too much power early on can lead to certain death.' Harley finished. "That's cool. Must be hard to fight a corrupted Patience Soul."

"Yeah, if they knew what they were doing." She agreed. "So please?"

"Why do you want to learn to fight so desperately?"

"I want to help you, Harley, in the upcoming battles."

"No." Harley shook his head. "Too dangerous."

Her pale grey eyes hardened. "I'm going to fight either way, Harley. I am the president of the only multiracial school for magic in the world. Eventually the NHDS will come here, and I will not hide."

"You'd risk your life needlessly?"

"It's not needless if it's something I believe in, Harley."

"You sound like Frisk." He shook his head. "Fine, I'll help you. But you must promise that you will not kill others, not unless you have no other options. Understand?"

"I understand, and I promise." She swore, then clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay! When do we start?"

"Well, Asgore may be out of commission for a while, and half of the jury was killed in the bombing, so his trial is on hiatus." Harley thought aloud. "So I am going to be less busy. How about we start tomorrow at 14:00, and we will go from there?"

"Sounds good to me." She leaned forwards, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Harley."

"Just don't get yourself killed."

Out of nowhere, loud, raucous laughter broke out from the entrance, followed by loud wolf whistles.

Emilia shook her head and rose, and Harley followed suit, and as he did so, he realized he was a full head taller than her. " _She's the same height as Frisk."_ He chuckled.

"What's so funny?" She asked him.

"Oh, nothing." He pointed at the small crowd of people. "Shouldn't we figure out what's going on?"

"Yeah, we should." The two of them headed over, and Harley tapped the shoulder of the nearest person.

"What's going on?" Emilia asked.

"Just look at what Amy is wearing!"

Harley put his arm around Emilia, and pulled her towards him. "Stay close." He commanded, and began to shove his way through the crowd, ignoring the protests of the people he pushed. Before long, they had reached the front of the crowd, where a girl in a  _very_ small dress stood, grinning stupidly as people checked her out and took pictures of her.

Harley raised an eyebrow, and he gently pushed Emilia forwards, who began to scold Amy. Apparently they were friends. He walked to the front door, and stepped into the sunset, gazing as the reds and yellows beautifully combined in the sky. He smiled wistfully, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a brief distortion in reality as Sans appeared. He saw Frisk and Freddy first, both looking the exact same as when he left them.

Then he saw Chara, and his jaw dropped.

She was wearing a brown suit with the Delta Rune swen at cuffs, with a green dress shirt and a yellow tie. Her hair, which had grown out a bit since the Underground, was combed back and down, and she was rocking a pair of brown dress shoes.

" _She's beautiful."_ Harley thought, amazed. " _She's wearing a suit and she's absolutely beautiful. Not that she wasn't beautiful in the first place, but… ugh, I'm so confused."_

Chara walked up the steps and stopped right in front of him. She gave him a small, nervous smile. "Hey, Harley."

He blinked. "Hello, Chara." He held out his arms, and she hugged him.

"Caught you off guard?" He nodded, and she chuckled. "That's what I was hoping for."

"I wasn't expecting to see you in a suit is all."

"Yeah, I tried on the dresses I got from MTT Resort, but I didn't like any of them. So I took this old suit that I stole when Mettaton wasn't looking-" Harley frowned at her as she said this and she just kept going. "-and tried it on. And I liked it better!"

"It suits her." Freddy commented. "She's not your average girl, after all."

"Yeah, I know…" Harley muttered, checking his watch, which read 18:25. "Let's go inside guys." He turned, and walked back into the building, followed closely by the other three.

Once they were inside, Emilia grabbed onto his arm. "Harley! You're almost up!" She began to pull him away from the others, towards the where they had been seated. A small portable stage had been placed there, right in front of the mural of the Delta Rune.

She released him at the side of the stage, and climbed onto it. "May I have your attention please!" Her voice was being projected into the onstage microphone and out through the speakers around the gym. After a few moments, the babble of the students stopped, and all eyes were trained on her. "Thank you for coming to the 2018 Halloween Dance! Now, I see that you have all gone with our unusual theme for a Halloween Dance, Suits and Skirts, and you all look absolutely gorgeous!"

"Now, in light of the attack today, we made a unusual, last minute decision - instead of one hundred percent of tonight's funds going to the student body, we have decided to donate half of it to Dreemurrs, and all of those injured. And here as our guest of honor, give a round of applause to Harley Vogel!"

The crowd began to clap, and Harley walked onto stage, gazing out at the crowd. After a few moments, he raised one arm, and the crowd fell silent.

"Hello!" He shouted, and the crowd began to clap again. "It's good to be here! Now, I must offer all of you my thanks, both for showing up and supporting your own school, but also for supporting me and my family! So thank you, and-" Harley's fist began to glow, and he threw a red ball of light into the air, which exploded into small fireworks, illuminating the crowd. "Enjoy!"

The crowd began to cheer, and Harley stepped off stage as the music began to play, and people began to dance.

"That was amazing, Harley!" Emilia hugged him, and clapped happily. "Those fireworks? Amazing! You certainly have a flair for this!"

He shrugged and laughed. "Not really. I just asked myself, 'what would Mettaton do?'"

"Harley!" Chara ran over, laughing. "Why didn't you tell me you were speaking? That was a hoot!"

He placed a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "A hoot? I was nervous!"  
"Yeah, sure you were, Harley."

"Oh yeah, Chara, this is Emilia."  
"Yeah, I saw." She shook Emilia's hand. "My name is-"

"Chara Dreemurr, I know who you are." She replied. "You are the girl who vanished a hundred years ago, right?"

"The very same."

"Good to meet you." Emilia looked up at Harley. "I'll see you later. Take this." She handed him a piece of paper. "Call me later, so we can set up the lessons."

Harley nodded, and took the piece of paper. Emilia nodded at Chara, and walked away.

"Lessons?" Chara inquired.

"I told her I will help her with combat magic." Harley waved his hand, cutting off Chara before she started to grill him. "Later. Let's try to have fun, okay?"

The two of them walked into the crowd, and Harley held out his hand, which Chara took. The two of them began to dance to the music that was playing, a rendition of  _Livin' La Vida Loca_.

"Isn't this a song about a hooker?" Chara shouted over the music. "Not very appropriate for a High School, right?"

Harley rolled his eyes. "Chara, it's not meant to be taken seriously!"

She laughed. "I know! I'm just saying, this is music?"

"Could you make better?"

"Hell yeah! In fact, I'm going to make myself a theme song!"

Harley shook his head and laughed. He lifted his arm and spun her around, and they continued to dance.

Chara hadn't been this happy in a long time. She loved to spend time with Harley, and since he was always busy, she didn't care that she had to be surrounded by strangers to do so.

The song changed to a song she didn't recognize, and she frowned, listening to the lyrics. "What do you think of this one, you Wisenheimer?"

"Wisen- Chara, what that fuck does that mean?"

"Smartass! Who doesn't know what a wisenheimer is?!"

"Everyone? It's twenty-eighteen, Chara! I don't understand your slang!" Harley laughed.

Chara grinned crazily. "Heh, sorry! Didn't think before I spoke!"

"That's not like you!"

"What, did she bust out the nineteen-hundreds slang again?" Frisk and Freddy had made their way over to them, and was giving Chara an amused look. "She does that when she's really happy, since she doesn't think about what she says."

Harley laughed. "Of course."

Frisk and Freddy spun away from the two of them, and stepped off the dance floor, heading over to the chairs that had been set aside for people who were tired of dancing.

The two of them sat, and Freddy gazed at Frisk, clearing his throat.

"So…' He began. "Frisk, do you really hate humans that much?"

Frisk glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. "Does it really surprise you that I do?"

"Well… no." Freddy replied. "Not after what you've told me, that is. But you seem to be perfectly fine with sacrificing humans, as if the total destruction of a species is okay. And you identify yourself as a monster, don't you?"

Frisk laughed. "No, I know I'm a human. I'd never be good enough of a person to be a monster. None of us will ever be. And… humans are mostly scummy, with very few, like you, being good."

"It's not so black and white, Frisk. Each side has people that are nasty, that are okay with bringing harm to others."

"I've yet to meet a monster who was okay with slaying other monsters." her lips curled back into a sneer. "Humans slay each other left and right, destroying countless of their own with very little regard to much other than their own agendas."

"But their are good ones of us, too." Freddy insisted. "It tends to be the minority of people that go around killing each other, Frisk."

Frisk shook her head. "I'd believe it when I see it, Freddy. But I do agree that it's not a hundred percent of humans that are evil. There are exceptions, of course, and those of you that are deserve mercy."

Freddy gave her a slight smile. "Alright. I'm going to convince you that humans aren't worthless."

Letting out a small chuckle, Frisk replied. "You are welcome to try."

The two of them gazed out at the dance floor, watching Chara and Harley dance. They both looked so happy, so free, with none of the stress that surrounded them constantly weighing down on them.

"Those two definitely like each other." Freddy commented. "Why don't they just… get together already?"

"There's a lot of history there." Frisk replied. "They both are probably unsure of how the other feels, and Chara still feels guilty about beating and raping him, something that probably is holding Harley back, even if he doesn't realize it."

"Wait… what?" Freddy sputtered. "She what?"

Frisk glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. "I probably shouldn't have told you that. Don't tell anyone that I told you that."

"Uh… okay. But why would she do that?"

"To make a long story short, she was corrupted and unable to forgive herself for mistakes that she had made, and Harley convinced her that she deserved a second chance, while she dealt  _a lot_  of pain upon him."

"Like..?"

Frisk shrugged. "Nothing that could break him, my brother has been beaten and tortured for most of our lives. But that leaves a scar on a person, y'know?"

"Yeah… I get that." Freddy replied. "But they look so happy; you'd never tell that something like that ever happened between them."

"Yeah… they will get over it eventually. They just need time."

* * *

"How in the hell did you fail to kill him!"

The man with the Rage soul stood over the man with the Fear soul, who was, ironically, cowering at his feet.

"The boy didn't fear me!" He yelped

The man seized him by his collar, and lifted him off the ground. "That's why you had so many people outside fighting, Joseph." He growled through gritted teeth. "Not that you should've needed it, with an LV of twenty, you should be able to wipe Vogel off the face of the Earth without breaking a sweat!"

"You didn't fight him!" Joseph, the man with the Fear Soul, protested. "It was like he was LV twenty, despite being so wea-agh!"

The man with the Rage soul released his collar, and grabbed onto his throat, holding him a couple inches off the ground. "Maybe it was the DT you stole from me, and injected into him?" he whispered, throwing him across the room, and he slammed into the far wall. "Oh yeah, I know about that. You increased his Determination and strengthened his body, Joseph!"

"If you knew this, why did you send me!" He protested, "You could have sent Hatred! Or Pride!"

"No, it has to be you to go, Joseph. Either you die fighting, or I will kill you. Begone. Prepare for you next assault." Joseph scurried off, and the man with the Rage soul sat and waited. Before long, a pair of golden eyes appeared, glowing in the darkness.

"You sent for me, Rage?" a feminine voice echoed through the room.

"Ah, yes I did Vengeance. I need you to prepare for combat. You are to be sent on an assassination mission."

"Who is the target."

"Your target is-"


	34. Fear Falls

Harley stepped outside, seeking out the cool autumn air. As he wiped sweat off his forehead, he silently cursed himself for his cowardice.

" _So I like Chara."_ He thought. " _I've come to terms with that. But why can't I tell her? Why do I have to be so fucking shy?!"_ He stamped his foot and growled, which startled the couple that was making out on the stairs.

The guy stood up, and walked up the stairs, only stopping when his face was inches from Harley's. "What's the big deal? Stamping and growling like your some kind of sentry or something? What you gonna do, report us?" He laughed.

"Uh, Henry, that's-"

"I know who this is, babe. This is the great  _Harley Vogel,_ the guy with the weird sister. I gotta say, Vogel, you look bigger on tv."

Harley could smell the pungent smell of alcohol on his breath, and shook his head. "You're drunk. Sit down before you fall."

"Is that a threat? You gonna push me? Try it! See what happens, punk!" He shoved Harley, who stumbled a bit back. "You don't have shit on me!"

Harley sighed, and glanced at the girl on the steps. "You going to stop him?"

"Hah, you need a girl to save you? Pathe- _oof!"_

Harley, sick of the guy's drunken mannerisms, slammed his foot onto his toes, and heard a satisfying  _crunch_ as they broke. As the guy fell to the floor, whimpering in pain, Harley straightened his tie, and walked down the stairs, away from the pair.

" _Freakin idiot."_ Harley growled, frustrated. Walking over to a bench that was against the wall around the corner, he sat, and began to quietly collect his thoughts.

"What's with that guy?" Emilia asked, and Harley jumped as he was jolted out of his thoughts once more.

"Where'd you come from?" He asked, his annoyance evident in his voice.

"I followed you out, duh." She told him. "I came out of the school and saw that guy on the floor, and you coming here." She pointed at the empty space beside him. "Got any room for me?"

Harley shrugged. "Go ahead. I don't own the bench."

Emilia sat beside him, and the two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, as she could tell something was bothering him.

She didn't mind the silence, she could wait.

After a while, he sighed and shook his head. "What was the total?"

"We collected about two thousand dollars." She told him. "Pretty good turn up, for a high school dance."

"Good."

"Harley, may I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Go ahead."  
"If you like Chara, why haven't you said anything to her?"

Harley turned his head to face her, an eyebrow raised. "..that obvious, huh?"

"No, I'm just really observant. I saw that for the briefest second, you face lit up when you saw her. That, and you spent the entire time with her. And even with all that, I wasn't sure until I asked."

"...normally I would end the conversation here and walk away, but I'll just be blunt with you. I'm scared."

"Why? She has feelings for you too, she nearly destroyed her sandwich when I was talking to you yesterday."

"You were making obvious innuendos."

"I know. I heard rumours that she crushed on you, since she has turned down every guy who has asked her out."  
"Pretty inefficient way to check. What if I had said yes?" Emilia gazed at him, a glint in her in her eye.

"Then I would've let you fuck me into next week." she replied, her tone dead serious.

The two of them stared at each other, and she smirked, then laughed. Harley simply shook his head in disbelief.

"Seriously dude, you're famous and hot. I wouldn't have turned that down. But that's besides my point. She likes you!"

"Emilia, I have a very complicated past with Chara. It's not that easy for me."

"What happened?"

_-Chara hitting him over and over again, his blood beginning to coat her fists-_

"That's not information I like to tell others." Harley replied, mentally shooing away the image

"Well, what will it take for you to work past it?"

"Time. I need time to collect my thoughts, and straighten out my mind." Harley placed a hand on Emilia's back. "Thanks. I've been trying to figure out what was holding me back, and I finally figured it out thanks to you."

She smiled. "No problem. I'm happy to help."

Harley glanced at his watch. "I need to go home. I'll see you tomorrow, at fourteen hundred."

Emilia nodded, and Harley rose, walking away to go meet up with Frisk and Chara.

As he met with them, and they walked away, a man and woman stood at the corner watching them, and once they had gone a short distance away, they followed them.

* * *

Frisk awoke to the smell of something burning.

Pancakes, to be exact.

" _I guess Toriel isn't cooking? She never burns food."_ She stretched, yawned, and swung her legs to the side of her bed, kicking her blankets off the bed as she sat up. She glanced at the clock, which read 1:50pm.

" _Guess I should go see what's going on."_ Frisk stood up, and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of shorts. As she tugged them on, she heard a hauntingly familiar humming coming from downstairs.

" _Wait, is that-"_

A loud explosion shook the house as the Gaster Blaster discharged, and was immediately followed by Toriel shouting. Frisk quickly pulled on the shirt she was holding, and bursted out of her room, only to slam into Chara.

"Move!" Chara shoved Frisk off of her, a conjured blade in her hand.

"Fuck off!" Frisk shouted, and pushed her back. They growled, but Harley, who had sprinted down from upstairs, slammed his foot between the two of them. He was holding a switchblade, which was glowing with the power of his Determination.

"Get up you two." He growled, and he seized the two of them by the arm, and lifted the in the air. Taking the lead, he ran down the hall, the two of them following.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they could see Sans's Gaster Blaster floating in the doorway of the dining room, pointed towards the entrance. Harley ran forwards, and slashed at the skull with his knife, splitting it in half. As it dropped to the ground, they ran into the kitchen, stopping beside Sans, who had another blaster at his side.

"The fuck are you doing, Sans?" Harley exclaimed, but as he directed his gaze over to where the Blaster was pointing, a wall of bone surrounded them, blocking their view.

Harley froze.

_-Sans, firing his cannons down at Harley as he dodged, viciously trying to slay the Judge-_

Frisk, however, was having none of it. She summoned a blade of energy and sliced clean through the wall. It fell, and the three of them could see Toriel, her arms outstretched and blocking someone from view.

"kids, please leave." Sans told them. "you don't have to deal with them."

"With who?" Chara demanded.

Harley strode past Sans and in front of Toriel.

"I can't think of many people that Sans would utterly despise and attempt to shelter us from." Harley said. "So let me take a wild guess,"

Toriel stepped to the side, and sitting at the dining table was the Vogels.

"John. Maria." Harley greeted them curtly. "What do you want?"

"Harley!" Toriel admonished. "These are your parents!"

Mrs. Vogel stood up, and ran towards Frisk, only to be stopped by Harley's arm, which she grabbed onto instead. She tried to pull him into a hug, but he pulled his arm free from her grasp, and shoved her back.

"My darling son, I have missed you so much! Why didn't you try to contact us after getting free? We had to fly over to see you!" She tried to run over to Frisk again, but Harley once again blocked her way.

"Harley, that is no way to behave!" Toriel reprimanded.

"Let your mother go to her daughter, son." His father said.

Frisk was frozen with horror, watching the scene in front of her as terror filled her mind. Chara could feel anger filling her up, but she stood quiet, not wanting to interrupt Harley.

"Let's make one thing clear." Harley said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You do  _not_ have the right to treat us like your kids, not after what you did. And don't  _dare_ touch Frisk. She is above filth such as you two."

"Watch your attitude!" Harley's father shouted. "We have been worried sick about you two! It has been six years-"

"Since you  _sold us_." Harley finished. The room fell silent, and he continued, his voice rising as he spoke. "That's what you were going to say, right? That it had been six years since you sold Frisk and I to a man who beat and raped her, and who experimented on and tortured me! Can you even begin to imagine what we went through! Look at me,  _mother._ Look at me!" He grabbed Mrs. Vogel, and pulled her face to his, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"W-why are they red?" She stammered.

"You know I can't remember their actual color?" He whispered softly. "I can't remember what it was like to be happy,  _mother._ I can't remember what it was like to not fear that my loved ones would be killed as I sleep. I can't remember" Harley's voice shook. "I can't remember what it was like to live a life that wasn't so full of  _pain_!" His voice rose to a shout, and he shoved her away from him again.

"Son, your eyes were-" Harley's father said.

" _Don't._ " Harley threw a ball of energy at Mr. Vogel, who ducked. It hit the door, blowing it off its hinges. " _Call me that!_ "

"Harley, we had to!" Mr Vogel shouted. "And we wanted to keep you!"

Harley's eyes glowed and darkened, "Oh, so you sold my sister, for what? To live comfortably? So you wouldn't have to work?" He asked, his voice shaking.

On the other side of the room, Chara could feel Harley's Rage emanating off of him, filling the room. As much as she felt satisfied that Mr. Vogel was cowering beneath his son, she couldn't help but worry that in his anger, Harley would do something reckless. She took a step forwards, intending to stop Harley, but Sans grabbed onto her arm.

"don't." he muttered. "let him deal with this."

"But what if he-"

"ill stop him him before he does."

"Son, we were-."

"What did I  _say_?!" Harley roared, and he threw another ball of energy, this one exploding at Mr. Vogel's feet, knocking him to the floor.

"Fine!" Mr. Vogel shouted. "We had to sell her, Harley! We were falling into debt!"

"Debt that you caused!" Harley shouted. "I remember the fancy shit you guys kept buying! The expensive dates you went on! And worse, I remember what you did to  _us!_ Before you even sold us!"

"Wait."  
" _ **what."**_

"Frisk, dear! I'm sorry!" Mrs. Vogel sobbed, dodging around Harley and running over to Frisk. She threw her arms around her, and squeezed. "I'm so sor-" she froze in shock as Frisk slammed the energy sword she was still holding into Mrs. Vogel's side.

"Frisk!" Chara shouted, and pulled Mrs. Vogel off of her. "Why did you do that!"

Sans stood in place, watching as Toriel ran over to Mrs. Vogel. He watched as Harley began to walk over to his father, and pulled out his switchblade.

"I should kill you." Harley whispered, his eyes still glowing as he kneeled beside him. "In fact, a couple months ago, I probably would've. But I learned that my soul is worth more than filthy animals such as you, and I refuse to allow what you've done to control me any longer, John. However, that being said." His glowing eyes bore deep into Mr. Vogel's. "If I ever see you again… It may not end so well for you."

"I will have you arrested." Mr. Vogel spat venomously. "You just killed my wife!"

"Or did we?" Harley gestured behind him, where Toriel was healing Mrs. Vogel. Moments later, she rose to her feet, and backed away from Frisk. "She looks pretty alive to me, John."

Mr. Vogel rose to his feet, and was joined by his wife. "I knew you kids were just filthy animals." Mr. Vogel spat. "You haven't heard the last of us, I swear it!" The two of them walked out, leaving the house in silence.

"Uh… Hi." Emilia's head poked out from the doorway. "Is it okay to enter?"

Harley's legs shook, and he fell to his knees, tears beginning to stream out of his eyes. Emilia glanced around the room - Frisk on the floor, Chara next to her, her arms around Frisk; Toriel had retreated back to by the stove, looking shell-shocked; and Sans, who was standing in the same position, his eye sockets empty.

"Oh." Harley rubbed his eyes, and stood, the glow in his eyes beginning to fade away. "It's fourteen-hundred, right? Time for your l-lesson." His voice cracked again, and he shook. "Sorry. Kind of had a rude awakening."

"You guys were… sold?" Harley glanced back at Toriel, who looked just as shocked as Frisk. "What kind of person would do that? To their own kids?"

"They wanted to live lavishly." Frisk spat out, tears still streaming out of her eyes, her clothes covered in Mrs. Vogel's blood. "I don't know how, but at some point, around when Harley and I were six, our father acquired a large sum of money, and he used it to spoil himself and our mother. And when we grew older, he began to… do things to me, and experiment on Harley, testing different drugs on him…" she broke off, and began to sob again. Chara rubbed her shoulder, attempting to comfort her.  
"They all caused pain." Harley continued. "I don't know why, but I suspect John was trying to raise my tolerance to it, for some reason. He'd always mutter things like, ' _Relax, son. This is for your own good.'_ and ' _You will need this in your life.'_  I was a kid. All I knew was it hurt, and he was making Frisk sad."

"As we grew c-closer to ten, he must've run out of money." Frisk continued, her head down. "So him and our mother began to fight about money, with him growing angrier and angrier, and our mother growing more and more obsessed with fame, regardless of the cost. And the day after our tenth birthday…"

"Frisk was gone." Harley finished, "I awoke to her bed empty, and made. That ticked me off, because Frisk always kicked her sheets on the floor, and left them there. When I went downstairs, the police were there, and my dad was with them… and to make a long story short, I caused a ruckus, immediately blaming him for Frisk's disappearance, and it lead to my mother using what I eventually realized must've been chloroform on me, and the next thing I knew, I was on a truck."  
"I was taken in the middle of the night." Frisk told them. "Our mom lead me to the living room, where she used a rag to make me pass out. I woke up in a truck, too."

"And where were you taken?" Emilia asked, horrified.

Harley hesitated, and Chara continued for them. "They were taken to the man with the Fear Soul's place." she told them. "He proceeded to torture, beat, and experiment on Harley, injecting him with liquid DT to see how it affected the human body, which is why Harley's eyes are now red, it's how the despite being LV 1, he's stronger than many, many other humans, including the LV20 Fear Soul, and even Frisk and I, who have higher LV's than him." Chara pulled out her Soul, and motioned for Frisk to do the same, who complied. Chara's LV2 Soul appeared, alongside Frisk's LV4 one.

"it's why he was overflowing with dt, tori." Sans explained. "it's how he brought back chara."

Toriel shook, her hands igniting. "And they had the nerve to come to my home…"

"it's like harley said, they were trying to sneak back into their lives now that they are famous."

"Well, if they pop up here again, they will regret it." Toriel swore. "I refuse to let them to be around my children…" She attempted a smile. "Run along now, kids. I know you have business to attend to."

"Frisk, Chara, Emilia, come with me." Harley commanded, wiping his eyes with the back of his all stepped out of the house, and headed around to the back.

In the small yard, Harley had set up some targets, alongside some dummies. A longsword was lying on the ground in the shade created by the house, and there was a desk with a single can sitting on it..

"So going off of what I managed to research before going to bed," Harley began, him and Emilia walking into the center of the yard, as Frisk and Chara pulled up chairs for themselves, "You were correct yesterday. Patience Souls indeed try to use as little energy for most of a fight, until the end. However, if properly trained, and they decided to, a Patience Soul can use a many stronger attacks over a smaller portion of time. And your specialty magic is -."

"Specialty magic?" Chara asked. "The hell is that?"

"Well, our specialty magic is that when we channel magic through physical objects, they can be very, uh, explosive. That, and the whole S/L/R thing that I used Underground."

"S/L/R?" Frisk asked.

"Save load reset." Chara muttered.

"And if I remember correctly, you get the orange/blue method."

"And that is?" Emilia asked.

Harley pulled an object out of his pocket, and flipped it on. "Blue means that if your opponent doesn't move, they don't get hurt." He pushed a button, and directed the laser at a can sitting on the table. "Hold on." He pushed a couple of buttons, setting the laser's range to twenty five feet, so it didn't leave the yard. "See? The can is still, so nothing happens. However, orange…" He pushed another button, and the laser turned orange, causing the can to crumple and melt into a puddle. "They are only safe if they are moving, which that can was not."

Emilia looked surprised. "That's really cool! So how do I use it?"

Harley shrugged. "Hell if I know. However, I do know a guy, one who is an absolute terror with this kind of magic. He's… injured right now, so I'll ask him later on. For now, I want to instruct you with hand-to-hand while using magic, and how to summon energy attacks."

"Now, while your attacks will be stronger with the magic going through them, they won't be as strong as mine, which is why," Harley summoned a rod of energy, in the shape of a bo staff, "I will not be using any physical weapons, just this."

"And what will I be using?"

"Well, the same technique for channeling is used for summoning, so just focus; imagine that you have a blade in your hands, and feel the grip. If you done it successfully, it will appear."

Emilia concentrated, trying to do as he said, but to no avail. "It's not working, Harley."

Frisk sighed, and rose to her feet. She walked over to Emilia, and promptly slammed her elbow into her chest. Emilia fell backwards, landing on the ground.

"Hey!" Harley protested.

"Stop being gentle, Harley." Frisk snapped. "She wants to learn how fight to help us handle the very real threats out there, and she doesn't have much time. And besides, you, Chara, and I all learned how to use our magic when our lives were at risk. So let's do the same."

Harley shot a worried glance at Emilia, who was struggling to her feet. "If it works…" She wheezed. "Then by all means, let's do it."

Harley tipped his head towards her, and stepped back, walking over to by Chara. Frisk held her hand out to Emilia, and helped her up. "Have you ever fought hand to hand?" Frisk asked her.

"I used to do Taekwondo." She told her. "For like, four years."

"Lucky you. Means you get an upper hand over us at the start, for Harley and I had no formal training. Everything we learned was from experience." Frisk summoned her sword, and glared at Emilia, getting into her fighting stance, with one hand on her blade, the other on her shield; her knees slightly bent, her feet in a box with her left foot pointing outwards to Emilia, while her right was back and parallel. "I will give you to the count of ten to summon your weapon. One! Two! Three!"

Emilia concentrated, desperately trying to summon the energy sword.

"Four! Five! Six! Seven!"

She focused on the blade in Frisk's hand, and tried to imagine the shape of the weapon in her hands.

"Eight! Nine!"

She closed her eyes, trying to summon the weapon with all of her willpower.

" _Ten!_ "

Frisk shot forwards, and slammed her shield into Emilia's chest. She fell back, and Frisk slammed her foot on her left wrist, causing it to shatter. "Get up!" Frisk commanded, and whimpering, Emilia complied. "Is this all you have?" Frisk taunted. "Big, bad miss popular of the school, all weak and whining!" She jumped forwards again, swinging her sword, and Emilia jumped back, barely dodging. "You thought you could help? That you could fight? Well you were  _wrong!_ " Frisk last attack, a stab forward, caught Emilia in the left shoulder, and the blade slid right through the muscle and bone, until it was right at the hilt, with Frisk right in her face.

"You aren't fit for this." Frisk whispered. "You are too  _weak._ " She ripped the blade free, slicing right through her arm. Emilia cried out again, and Frisk kicked her in the kneecap, knocking her to the ground.

Frisk held the sword in the air. "You useless trash. It's time to die." She swung the sword downwards, and Emilia let out a primal cry of rage.

" _No!"_ a blast of energy split the air, slamming directly into Frisk, who cried out in pain as she was launched across the yard. Emilia stood, a blade of cyan energy in her hand, as a giant skull floated above and behind her, one that looked viciously animalistic, like Sans's, but had tusks. Her eyes glowed with cyan energy as she directed the cannon at Frisk again, and thrust her arm out, commanding it to fire. A loud hum filled the air as it charged and fired, with Frisk jumping to the side to avoid it.

"Woah, woah!" Freddy shouted, running into the yard. "The hell's going on? I thought we were training today!"

"This is training, Freddy." Harley told him. "Sit, you're next."

Freddy glanced at the combatants, and back at Harley, and gulped as he pulled up a chair.

Emilia stood steady, her blade in her right hand as blood seeped out of the wound caused by Frisk. She glared at it, and charged at Frisk, swinging her blade. Frisk deflected, and tried to launch a counter attack, only to have to jump back as the blaster fired again. Emilia continued her onslaught, with Frisk giving more and more ground as she was unable to launch a proper offensive.

Eventually, Frisk could tell that as tired as she was, Emilia was growing fatigued much quicker than Frisk was, and decided to end the fight before anyone was seriously injured. She lifted her shield, and took a blast of energy directly, using all of her might to push the blast back. Then, channeling her DT through her body, she dashed forwards, and slammed the hilt into Emilia's chest, knocking her backwards and onto the ground again, and when she attempted to rise, Frisk pushed the tip of her sword against her throat.

Frisk sucked in a deep breath of air, attempting to steady herself before speaking. "Well, that was… unexpectedly good." she allowed her weapons to vanish, and held out her hand to Emilia, who grasped it, allowing herself to be lifted up. Emilia's weapons vanished, alongside her blaster.

"well that is virtually unheard of." Sans commented, stepping out from the corner he was hiding in. "these blasters," Sans summoned his own blaster, "were created by the previous royal scientist, w.d. gaster, and only a few beings can use them, myself and papyrus included. if you can use one, then…" Sans shook his head. "i guess you are worth my direct attention after all." Without letting anyone else speak, Sans turned away, and vanished.

"Does he do that often?" Freddy asked. "Just say what he wants, then leaves?"

Chara rolled her eyes. "Yes. And it is frustrating beyond belief."

"Freddy, get over here." Harley commanded. He had walked over to Frisk and Emilia, and was checking the wound in Emilia's shoulder. "Heal her."  
"How in the hell am I supposed to do that?" He asked.

"Your Soul is a Kindness one, and you guys are almost exclusively healers."

Frisk frowned. "You didn't see him in the fight with the NHDS, Harley. He may be an exception."

"I doubt it. Many of the people he fought had very minor wounds, even though there was evidence on their uniforms of worse injuries. I believe he may have been healing them without meaning to."

"Without any drain to his energy?" Frisk objected. "I doubt it."

"We all have something we are good at, Frisk. Look at what literally just happened. We were all expecting Emilia to have her ass handed to her, and yet you are sitting pretty with your HP at 11, when its supposed to be at 32."

"Whatever." Freddy cut off Frisk's objection. "How am I supposed to do this?"

"Uhh, no idea." Harley admitted. "When we summon things, we tend to try to imagine what we are materializing, so try to imagine the flesh is connected?"

Freddy shrugged, and he placed a hand on Emilia's wound. She gasped in pain, and a flash of green light emitted from Freddy's palm, and in an instant, the wound was sealed.

"Whoa." Freddy looked surprised. "That's awesome."

"Yeah, but her HP is down still." Harley shrugged. "So you can heal physical wounds real quick, but you don't heal their HP. Guess that would take longer. Frisk, Emilia, go sit down. There should be some monster candies in my bag, eat a few to restore your HP." They nodded, and walked away, with Chara following them. "As for you… Freddy, summon your weapon."

Freddy gulped, and he summoned his energy blade. Harley, who was picked up the sword on the ground, drew his weapon, tossing the sheath aside.

"Ready?" Harley asked. Freddy nervously nodded, and prepared for Harley's attack when he heard some clear their voice behind them.

"Why, hello, Frisk, Harley." The man with the Fear Soul, in a black trench coat and hat, accompanied by a few NHDS soldiers, had managed to sneak around the house and catch them off guard. "It's good to see you are here. And you must be Chara Dreemurr." He tilted his hat to Chara, who spat at him in disgust. "Well, I see they don't teach monster kids manners. No matter. As for you two, I have no idea who you are."

"Where is Sans and Toriel?" Harley snapped, striding forwards and pushing Freddy behind him. Chara, Frisk, and Emilia had all stood, and retreated back to by Harley and Freddy.

"Across town. They are preoccupied with my colleague, who is leading an assault on a few random buildings. I got to say, I don't always agree with Pride, but she certainly was able to predict those monsters. They were so concerned with protecting you guys, they didn't think twice about leaving you here in the 'safety' of home, while they lead a full on squadron against them. I hope she survives." He shook his head. "You know, I just realized something, Harley, Frisk. In all of the time that I owned you two, I never told you my name, did I?" He paused, waiting for an answer, but they stood silent, waiting for him to continue. "I am Joseph, the wielder of Fear. Something I can sense an abundance of coming from dear Frisk."

"Hurry up, Fear." A small, slenderly built woman with golden hair and eyes slipped forwards. "I already did my part, and Pride is having difficulty with the group the skeleton and goat brought. Apparently that fire elemental is a deadly combatant."

Joseph sighed. "You just had to ruin my moment, didn't you, Vengeance?"

" _What?"_ Harley's mind was racing. " _Pride? Vengeance? How many of these negative Souls are there?"_

"Wait, she's-"

"Vengeance. My name is Karla." she gave a mock bow to the five of them. "Hurry up, Fear."

"Fine, fine." Joseph gazed at the five in front of him. "Well, guess it's time for your short, pain-filled lives to come to an end. Vengeance, you going to help?"

"Nope." Karla pushed past the troops and vanished, leaving Joseph to stare after her.

"Uh, okay."

"I already crushed you before, what makes you think today will be any different?" Harley asked, as the five of them summoned weapons, Harley lifted his sword again, and Emilia's Gaster Blaster floated behind her.

"Well for one, these men aren't cannon fodder." He snapped his fingers, and multitude of weapon constructs appeared, all positive Soul traits with the obvious tinting of corruption on them. Most of which, it seemed, were fueled by Hatred and Fear.

Chara shook her head. "I find it ironic that your troops lack Kindness, Justice, and Perseverance."

The few Bravery troops summoned armor constructs around their bodies, and drew swords and axes, while the one Integrity pulled out an actual Scythe. The Patience one constructed a cannon that surrounded their arm, and Fear himself drew two swords.

"Y'know, I find it odd that, while in the age of guns, we all use swords and shit to fight." Freddy pointed out

"Its insanely difficult to channel magic through a gun, even for me." Harley replied. "Plus, we can create our weapons from anywhere."

"I know. I'm just saying."

"Enough." Joseph snapped, and pointed at Emilia, Chara, and Freddy. "Kill them. Harley and Frisk are mine."

"Go for the knees and wrists!" Harley commanded the others, as he and and Frisk surged forwards, striking at the man who tormented them for years on end.

He swung his sword, slamming it into Harley, and the deflecting Frisk's strike from the side. "You see, Harley, this is how I know I will win." They trio exchanged a few more blows, before ending up in the bladelock again. "You may not fear me, but she does!" He seized Frisk by the throat, and seemingly absorbed some of her fear. "And it makes me  _stronger!"_ He spun, slamming both blades into Harley's, shattering the blade. He then impaled Harley in his stomach, and launched him across the yard with an energy blast.

"N-no!" Frisk shouted, and she struggled to her feet. "Harley!"

"What is it I always told you, Frisky?" Joseph taunted. "Disobedience will lead to your brother's suffering! And you have been a very,  _very_ bad girl!" He seized her by the throat again, and lifted her into the air.

"N-no! Don't harm him!" She begged. "Harm me!"

"Oh, I plan to." He raised his blade, and slammed it into her gut. White-hot searing pain filled her, and she felt something impact her chest, launching her across the yard, further away from Harley.

_Harley was chained down, marks being branded into his back because he protected her._

Her vision dimmed, and yet she could still see Joseph approaching her.

_Harley, screaming in pain as needles were inserted into him, injecting him full of red liquid._

Joseph was attacked by Freddy, but Freddy was easily knocked aside.

_Harley gazed down at her, affection filling his pained gaze as they prepared to jump into the pit._

" _Are you really going to let yourself be beaten by this fucking shnob?"_ Flowey's voice echoed throughout her head. " _You are better than that, punk. You beat me, didn't you?"_

" _I-I can't. Not this time."_

" _Look, you may be a pathetic excuse for a human, but you are strong, Frisky. Get the hell up, and beat this bitch!"_

Frisk struggled to her feet again, as blood soaked her shirt and sweater. She gazed at Joseph, and saw that Harley had made his way back to him, and was being beaten down yet again. She grunted, and reached out for her magic, calling on her Determination to make her stronger. A white-hot anger filled her as she saw the man who tortured her and her brother for years continue to strike Harley, breaking down his constructed blade, and hitting him with a blast to the chest, splaying him on the dirt.

A guttural yell of rage escaped her throat, and she ran forwards, slashing through one of the Bravery Souls that stood in her way. And as Fear glanced over at her, she was satisfied by the surprise in his eyes that was his last expression, for the tip of her blade slammed into his armpit, puncturing both of his lungs and his heart. And when he fell, she grabbed the ruins of Harley's sword, and slammed it into Joseph's throat, eliminating any possibility of him being alive. Frisk ripped the blade free, and began to stab it into his chest, over and over again.

Chara jumped back as the Patience bitch fired another cannon at her. Everyone else had fallen, and both Emilia and Freddy had been injured. Harley had fallen, and Frisk had launched past her, killing the last Bravery on her way to dealing with Fear.

But this bitch refused to die.

Chara dodged another few blasts of her arm cannon, and launched another knife volley, all of which missed again. " _Fucking damn!"_ She raged. " _I can't hit her with the volleys, and I can't get close enough to fight hand to hand!"_

Suddenly, the solution to her problems appeared. A Gaster Blaster appeared directly over the Patience Soldier, who glanced up at it in confusion.

"bye." Sans said from beside Chara, and he closed his fist, firing the blaster into the woman. When the energy beam disappeared, all that was left of her was a smoking crater.

"Sans, you killed her!"

"look, chara, i appreciate this whole pacifist version of ya, i really do. but it's way past the black and whites of not killing an entire race, it's time to enter the gray area. these people... " Sans shuddered. "these people launched an attack onto a populated area, simply to draw us away. and they had another negative soul leader, this one being-"

"Pride?"

"yeah. i nearly got 'er, but she decided that fighting me and grillbz was too much, and fled. left a half-dozen of people to be slaughtered by my cannons and grillby's fire."

"And the Souls?" Chara demanded.

"they disappeared. don't need that on my conscious too."

Chara sighed. "Well, as long as we have no monsters trying to become gods, we should be fine."

Freddy had picked up Harley and Emilia while they were talking, and was now silently observing them. "Look, that's all fun to know, but what do we do about these people?"

"Seal their wounds, then leave them." Harley commanded grimly, as he and Frisk approached, with Emilia close behind. "We need to go and recover."

"kids…" Sans hesitated. "i have some bad news."

"How could today get worse?" Freddy asked dryly, and Harley motioned for Sans to continue.

"it's asgore. he's... dead."


	35. War and Truth

_-a few hours later-_

In the Dreemurr household, everyone was grieving.

Toriel sat in the kitchen, sobbing, while Frisk attempted to comfort her with Papyrus. Sans sat beside Freddy and Emilia in the living room, all of them silent as they watched Toriel, and Chara and Harley were outside, Chara sitting on the steps, and Harley standing by the fence, a dark look on his face.

"...so are we going to continue to spare them?" Chara asked him, and Harley sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Sparing them was to protect our souls, Chara." Harley replied slowly. "But I'm not sure that I believe we should die to protect our morals."

"Killing isn't going to end well for us, Harley."

"I know." Harley fell quiet, thinking hard. "What if we didn't kill everyone? Only when absolutely necessary?"

"I don't like it." Chara told him. "But it doesn't seem like we will have a choice."

"We will do as we must." Harley told her.

Chara shook her head. "These people - they are nothing any of us ever faced before. At least when we were Genociders, we fought face to face, but Asgore was killed while he was too injured to fight back."

Harley balled his fists. "I should've had someone stationed there to watch him. I was too fucking distracted, and now…" Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. "I didn't even get to know him. All of the time I had with him, we were too busy preparing to fight the human legal system."

"I know." Chara sighed. "I didn't get to reconnect with him. But we must stay in control, Harley. Especially with our LVs, we-"

Harley cut her off. "I know, Chara. This is all the time I am allowing myself to grieve, for I must take the forefront of this battle."

"Toriel wil-"

"No. Mother can fight, but her emotions will get her killed."

_-Toriel, fading into dust as his and Frisk's LV increased-_

Harley shook his head, both denying Chara's statement, and trying to shove the mental image aside "The two monsters that will assist us will be Sans and Undyne. You, them, Frisk, Emilia, Freddy, and I, we are all in this together."

"Emilia and Freddy can leave, before it's too late."

"It's already too late. That woman with the gold Soul, she got away. The NHDS will now know their descriptions and Souls."  
"They won't be safer in the forefront of combat!"

"I know! It's a catch twenty-two, Chara. Either way, they are screwed!"

Chara crossed her arms. "If we keep them somewhere in the middle, they will be safer."

Harley laughed incredulously. "You are talking about the girl who begged, not just asked, but  _begged_ me to teach her to fight with her Soul, only for her to learn that she can wield massive amounts of awesome power! As for Freddy, isn't he the guy who fought beside you guys in two combats now? Do you really think they will want to be hovering in the middle?"

"You are the leader -"

"I know, but do you really think -"

"No, but if you gave the order -"

"They won't -"

Chara threw her hands up in the air. "Ugh, fine!" She exclaimed. "You're right. These humans are too stubborn to listen to either of us."

"Glad you reached that conclusion, Chara." Freddy told her. He, Frisk, Emilia, and Sans had all gathered to listen to their conversation. "Because I refuse to sit back while you guys fight for our lives."

Emilia nodded. "Agreed."

Sans held up a phone in his hand. "so, i jus' got off the phone with a city official. he offered his condolences for asgore, then told me that he was putting up a quarantine. all non-combatants are encouraged to stay inside, and all combatants are supposed to report to city hall."

Frisk laughed. "Oh, that'll end well. All fighters in the same area? Totally not a trap."

"Yeah, but we're going." Harley stated.

"Why?" Chara asked. "If it's an obvious trap, why spring it?"

"To find the one who set it, punk." Undyne answered, walking up to the group. Alphys was beside her, and she waved hi to the group before squeezing past them to enter the house.

"Coach!" Emilia exclaimed.

"Please, just call me Undyne." She grinned at her, and focused her attention on Sans and Harley. "I heard the announcement. What's the plan? We going?"

"We're going." Harley repeated firmly. "I want to see what these humans have planned. Wait here."

Harley strode inside, and came back out a few minute later, holding Papyrus's sword in one hand, and a handgun in the other. He flicked the safety on, and took the lead, with the rest following him to City Hall.

The group traveled in somber silence, as they we trying to not attract too much attention to themselves. Thankfully, the Ebott City Hall wasn't far from Toriel's house, so they arrived at their destination before too long.

Inside, there was a small army of humans and monsters gathered, including Grillby and a few students from Chara and Frisk's magic class. They were all standing around a podium in the main lobby as they waited for whomever was supposed to speak to them. Dozens of news reporters were in the crowd, all waiting to get the first look at what was going on.

Harley, Chara, Frisk, and the others silently joined the group, people parting for them as they made their way to the front. They stood silent, waiting for the speaker to appear, all while the rest of the people around them were eyeing them and murmuring to one another.

After a short wait, two men and a woman stepped out of a door on the far left, and walked onto the stage. Two of them they recognized, the man was the Mayor of Ebott City, and the female was the Police Chief, who looked really angry and disgruntled. The third was a tall man dressed in black, who was nervously eyeing everyone around them. The Mayor himself had a smirk on his face, with an air of confidence in every step he took.

"Hello." The Mayor said as he stepped to the microphone. "Now, I am going to make this quick, for I have much to do. All of you, under no circumstances, are allowed to participate in any form of combat. Understand?"

An immediate uproar broke out over the crowd, as everyone shouted at him. He simply raised his hand in the air, and waited for silence. It took a few minutes, but everyone eventually quieted down.

"None of you are properly trained for combat, and we have an elite force of officers to protect all you citizens of Ebott-"

"Your elite force  _failed_ to protect our King!" Undyne shouted, and the crowd returned to a state of uproar, everyone's voices once again overlapping one another. Frisk and Chara glanced at the other in disbelief, and Harley looked at the ground and sighed, before gathering his energy into his feet, and leaping on stage. He pushed the mayor aside, and grabbed the mic, and waited for silence.

"Hey! Get off stage!" The tall man in black shouted.

"Shut it." The Police Chief commanded. "Let's see what he has to say."

The crowd silenced once more, and Harley gazed into the crowd of assembled monsters and humans.

_-Covered in dust, impaling an Aaron right after killing Shyren-_

He shook his head, trying to shove away the memories, and - wait, was that..? For a quick moment, he was sure that he saw the Grey child from his dreams, but there were two? He shook his head, before speaking.

"So we came to you, in our time of need," He began, setting his cold gaze on the mayor as he pushed his demons aside, "Just so you could tell us  _not_ to fight? To tell us  _not_ to defend our homes, our people? Monsterkind just lost its king, Chara, her father, and Frisk's and my only father figure,  _ever._ And the human citizens of Ebott are here to protect their homes and lives, which if I remember correctly, is allowed by the laws of this country."

"You say we aren't trained, but I know monsters here that trained their entire lives to fight, such as the former Captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne, and I am willing to bet that every human in this room is confident in their abilities, magic or otherwise."

"So no, we will  _not_ listen to your orders, for you are trying to command us to go into hiding, which I personally refuse to do. I spent a good portion of my life under duress because of humans, and I refuse to do it again. And all of you willing to fight out there, as the Prince of the Monsters, I am creating the Monster-Human Defense Force, and will assume all responsibility for any repercussions to be dealt out as we do what is required to protect our homes. You know where I live, and if you wish to fight, pay me a visit." With that, Harley leaped off the front of the stage. He walked over to Sans, and muttered something in his ear. Sans snapped his fingers, and Harley, Sans, and the rest of their group vanished.

* * *

The moment they arrived, Frisk punched Harley in the face, breaking his nose on contact.

"You,  _absolute_ idiot you, why did you do that!"

Harley rubbed his nose, and gestured at Freddy to heal it. "Because." He winced as his nose was repaired. "Somebody has to stand up for us all."

"Not that! The assuming responsibility!"

"The citizens of this town would have been reluctant to fight since they were just commanded not to. We need them to be able to fight back."  
"You are giving your life away, Harley."

"What is my life, compared to the lives of these people?" Harley asked. "They didn't ask for this. The NHDS is attacking because  _we_ freed the monsters, so we must take responsibility for the consequences of our actions."

"The consequences…" Frisk stared at Harley. "Harley, we saved a freaking race! We did something good! What's happening here, these aren't our consequences, they are acts of hate against monsters!"

"Yes, acts of hate that wouldn't be possible if it weren't for us, Frisk!" Harley took a deep breath. "Look, while I do not regret saving monsterkind, I know that if it weren't for us doing exactly that, Asgore would still be alive!"

"Yes, but you are throwing your life away for a bunch of humans! How do you know that some of the people who tortured us aren't living in this city?"

"I don't, Frisk, but that is besides the point. We are the reason that these people are here." He turned away. "We need to prepare for humans and monsters alike to begin to show up, but stay on guard for any potential attacks." Harley walked away, accompanied by Sans, Papyrus, and Emilia.

Frisk glowered at Harley's retreating back. "He's throwing his life away for a bunch of worthless humans."

"We aren't all worthless, Frisk." Freddy told her.

"For the most part, yes, you humans are." She told him. "Meeting a good humans is about as rare as Papyrus understanding a situation, Freddy. You and Emilia seem to be exceptions to the rule."  
"You are human too, Frisk." Freddy reminded her. "I know you renounced us, but you are still a human. Harley realizes this, and that is why he fights. Not all humans would stand up for those who can't fight, or even accept consequences for their actions."

"Yes, I know he's being foolish, Freddy."

"No, he isn't actually. Think about it! As a capable fighter, and knowing that everything that is happening is because of you guys, he's doing what he believes is right, and defending those that can't. It's actually quite heroic, if you ask me." He patted her shoulder, and headed towards the house. With a sigh, Frisk began to follow, only to be stopped when Chara grabbed her hand.

"Frisk, what if…" Chara whispered. "What if we brought Asriel back? With his help, we could end this war real quick."

Frisk stared at her blankly. "And how do you expect to do that?"

"We can gather seven human souls, and-"

"Let him return to being the God of Hyperdeath?"

"Hear me out, would you?" Frisk stood silent, and Chara continued. "We can gather seven human Souls, and allow him to absorb each into a Soul container. This way, he should be able to return to being Asriel."

"Wouldn't that give him control over the timeline?"

"I don't think so. He will be powerful, yes, but his soul container will be a monster one, keeping him weaker than he should be."  
Frisk shook her head. "You are pulling this out of your ass, aren't you?"

"No! I've been talking to Sans and Alphys about Souls, and I managed to get Sans to admit that he would be much, much stronger if he was a human, or didn't have a monster Soul container."

"Your pseudoscience is confusing me."

"You aren't using that word correctly. Pseudoscience is-"

"I don't care. You know if you are wrong, and Asriel becomes Mr. Hyperdeath again, we're fucked, right? Because there is a mass of human Souls here, all ripe for him to pick."

"I know, but if I'm right? We will have an powerful ally in Asriel, who will be able to use the power of seven different souls!"

"Well, here are the three issues with your plan, although I know the answer to one. How will we get the souls, how will we get the soul container, and whose Determination Soul are we using?"

"The NHDS is how we will get the souls. Alphys had soul containers in the True Lab, so we can go and retrieve them. As for the other two issues, well, Harley."

"Are you planning on killing my brother, Chara?"

"Hell no! Look, you guys brought me back with his Determination, so why not Asriel?"  
"Uhh, he used said Determination to resurrect you, remember?"

"I know, but I kind of, well, eavesdropped on a conversation between him and Sans. He offered to bring back Gaster, saying that if we severely wounded him, his Determination would activate and overflow, and heal him, but it would also overflow his Soul with Determination again, which is exactly what we need to create a monster soul and a DT soul."

Frisk shook her head. "Alright, Chara. I'll help you."

"You will? Awesome!" She hugged Frisk, who blushed. "Thank you!"

"S-so what do you need from me?"

"I need to go inside and help Harley, so I need you to go to the True Lab and get the soul containers. From there, we will need to collect the six souls, and when we have all of them, I will need you to convince Harley."

"Why me?"

"You are his sister. He will do anything for you."

Frisk shrugged. "I guess. Alright, I'm going to go now. Anything else?"

"No, that should be all. Thanks again Frisk."

Frisk nodded and turned away, and Chara walked into the house.

* * *

"So what's our next move?" Freddy asked Harley.

Several hours had passed. Harley and Sans had taken the names of at least two hundred people, all ready to fight to protect their families and homes. Now, Harley, Sans, Chara, Freddy, Emilia, Undyne, and Frisk (who had just appeared out of nowhere a few moments ago, refusing to say where she had been) were all sitting in the living room talking.

"I wish I knew where the NHDS was based, or who lead them." Harley replied. "That would make all of this so much easier."

"We could try following them." Freddy suggested, but Chara shook her head.

"That's extremely dangerous. If whoever is doing the following is caught, they will die, no questions asked."

"i could do it." Sans offered. "if im seen, i could always jus' use one of my shortcuts."

Frisk flicked some hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, that could work." She glanced at Harley, who was simply staring into space, absentmindedly scratching his chin. "Uh, Harley? Earth to Harley?"

He nodded slowly. "Sans, if you feel confident that you could get away, then after the next combat, trail them back. And since that is our plan, how about we lure them out?"

"How?" Emilia asked, leaning forwards.

"What if…" Harley scratched at his chin again. "Hmm, I don't know. Any suggestions?"

"What if we issued a challenge?" Frisk asked. "See if we can get their leader to expose themself."

"That sounds like an unnecessary waste of life, punk." Undyne told her.

Frisk shrugged, and Undyne scowled at her. "Punk, I know you hate humans, but look at it as a game of chess: They are your army, your troops. Pawns, per say. We make up the back row, your from the King to the Rooks. Yes, we are a step above them, but we shouldn't toss all of our troops at once, right? Because then when we need them, they will be all gone."

Emilia shook her head. "That was a very roundabout way of saying 'We aren't wasting lives because of your grudge, Frisk.'"

"You have something to say to me, Emilia?"

"I just don't feel you are justified in hating us all, Frisk. I know you were hurt, and have seen some of the worst humans have to offer, but that does not mean you can be all willy-nilly with our lives!"

Frisk opened her mouth, but Sans coughed, and snapped his fingers, thrusting his hand towards the ground. Both of the girls' souls turned blue, and they were thrown to the carpeted floor.

"if you don't mind, i do believe we are trying to save lives here." he commented in a dry tone. "may we continue, or do you have something more important to discuss?"

"Sans, let them go. Frisk, Emilia, if you guys don't have something useful to say, shut up." Harley snapped. The magic on them released, and the girls sat back in their seats, very pointedly not looking at one another.

"How about we bait them out with ourselves?" Freddy asked. "We tell the humans and monsters to just stand by for either further information or an attack by the NHDS, then leak messages about how you are injured or something?" Harley nodded at him, considering his idea.

"How about we split up, and go to different parts of town?" Undyne asked. "You and Sans, patrol the city, and Frisk, Chara, Freddy, Emilia, and I will go to the school.

"Why are so many of us going to the school?" Frisk asked.

Undyne held up two fingers. "One, you four have to go to school, and I have to go to work. And two, Sans and Harley together make a powerful combo."

"Wait, you're sending us to school?" Freddy exclaimed.

Harley and Sans exchanged glances, and Undyne continued to talk. "Yes. It will allow you guys to get some more practice with magic, and will place you in a position to defend the school if required."

Freddy opened his mouth, but Chara cut him off. "It's a good plan, Undyne. Do you agree with her, Harley?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. It'll make Mother happy too." Harley checked his watch, and rose to his feet. "And in the spirit of that, off to bed, all of you. Freddy, Emilia, I had Toriel call your parents, and explain that you are safer here, so you are both in the clear."

"Where will we sleep?"

Harley frowned. "In my room, I guess. The girl's room is quite full, while mine is both larger and quite empty, because I spent most of my time at Asgore's. Come with me." Harley walked over to the stairs, and nodded at Chara and Frisk. "Night gals. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

The three of them headed upstairs, leaving Chara, Frisk, Sans, and Undyne all staring at each other in an awkward silence. The two monsters quickly noticed Chara's face turning red as she clenched her fists tightly, and glanced at each other. Sans held his hand out to Undyne, and she grabbed it, the two of them quickly disappearing into a shortcut.

"Uh, Chara? You know that Freddy is in his room too, right?"

She didn't answer, instead she stood, summoned a knife, and threw it into the seat where Emilia had been sitting. "I do not like that girl!" Chara hissed. "The day she met him, which was  _two days_ ago, mind you -"

"I know, I was there." Frisk muttered.

"-where she clearly made it obvious that she wanted Harley to bend her over that damn table and fuck the shite outta her-"

"Why, thank you. Now I'm going to have nightmares about that."

"-and then yesterday, where she was  _very clearly_  wearing his colors-"

"Yeah, because Harley totally invented the black and white look. Definitely unique to him."

"And today he was training her, and she just happens to be insanely strong-"

"Hey,  _I_ trained her."

"And now, she made the trio into a quintet, and she's sleeping in his room!"

"Yeah, where they're  _totally_ going to fuck with Freddy sleeping  _right there_ , Chara." Frisk finished.

Chara glared at Frisk, who gave her a wide grin.

"What is your point, Frisk?"

"You're being ridiculous and worrying for no reason." Frisk replied, and then scratched her head. "Or maybe you're worried that the fact that you beat and raped the shit outta my brother will ruin your chances?"

Chara gazed at her, shocked, and Frisk continued, her smile now clearly forced. "Look, I've been tolerating your crush on my brother, simply because I love you both. But let me make this perfectly clear, Chara. I do not want to hear you bitching and whining about it. I don't care for that, and it makes you seem ridiculously insecure. If Harley likes you, he will talk to you when he is ready, and he wouldn't be fooling around with others while he does. And if you did leave lasting scars on him, which I think you did, expect it to take a while, sis." She clapped Chara on the arm. "Come on, we need to get to bed." Frisk walked towards the stairs, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Chara followed.

As the two of them climbed the steps, they could hear the shower in the bathroom turn on, and the faint sound of raised voices down the hall. They glanced at each other, and quietly snuck over to Harley's door, and listened in.

"I'm confused. What's your issue?" Harley asked

There was the sound of something shattering. "You! You are what is wrong! I don't understand why you trust her!"

Chara and Frisk exchanged shocked looks. That was Freddy shouting at Harley, and he seemed to be just taking it.

"Of who? Chara? Emilia?"

"Both! Chara has, by your own admission, done  _unspeakable_ things to you, Harley! And Emilia, she just kind of popped up! Hell, even me! We just met two days ago! How can you be so-"

There was a rush of wind, and the sound of something slamming into the nearest wall. "Chara was corrupted. I have forgiven her for what she did." Harley said, his voice deadly calm. "As for both you and Emilia, you both have things you are fighting to defend, and have proven valuable allies. However, that does not mean I am too attached to either of you, Freddy. I will kill you in a moments notice if I have to." The girls could hear a grunt as someone hit the floor.

"Get out." Harley commanded. "I'm sure Frisk would be delighted to have you stay with them. Her room is down the hall."

Chara and Frisk, realizing someone was about to step out, silently dashed to their room, and managed to get inside before Freddy stepped out. Chara tore her shirt off, and Frisk leapt into her bed. Before long, there was a knock on the door, and Frisk shouted, "Come in!"

Freddy stepped in, glanced around, and immediately averted his eyes when he saw Chara in a state of undress.

"Uh, should I come back later?" He asked as he stared at the ground.

"Nah, it's cool." Chara replied as she pulled on her pjs. "I'm already done."

"So why are you here Freddy?" Frisk asked.

"I got in an argument with Harley, and he kicked me out." Freddy told them. "He told me to come here to sleep instead, if it's okay with you two."

Frisk glanced at Chara, who shrugged. "Alright, you can stay here." Frisk told him.

"Thank you."

Chara peeked out of her room, and saw Emilia stepping out to go to Harley's room, and the door close a moment later. She glanced at Frisk and Freddy, said "Bathroom," and headed out of the room.

"So…" Freddy kicked at the floor, unsure of what to do. "Where do you want me to sleep?"

Frisk shrugged, and waved at the foot of her bed. "You can sleep here, just try not to get stepped on." She pulled a blanket off her bed, and lay it out on the floor, and dropped a pillow on it.

"Thanks." He told her, and he sat down. "Frisk… Why do you give me an exception?"

"What?" She asked, not understanding what he meant.

"You hate humans to the point that you care very little for our lives. So why me?"  
Frisk leaned her cheek onto her hand, and gazed down at him. "Look, I came to that school after six years of isolation. The only people I knew were Harley, and eventually, Chara. I have less schooling than anyone in that building, and I struggle to socialize or make friends. I'm not ugly, but I'm not beautiful or well-endowed, like Chara and Emilia, who both are also brilliant in their own ways. Chara may also be snarky and sarcastic like I am, but she's much better at pretending to be nice than me. I'm an asshole, at least, at first."

"But you saw through that, and you reached out to the lonely, friendless girl. You gave me a chance, when no one else did. You… make me feel things, Freddy. Things I don't know how to describe. But you help me open up, and for that I am grateful."  
"So… because I befriended you, I'm a good human?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds dumb. No, you saw the person that no one liked, and instead of going with the group mentality, like most humans do, you chose to step forwards, and be different."

"Frisk… are you sure you don't just like me because I talk to you?"

"Freddy, i'm friendly with other kids in the school now. But, you are the only one I trust." Frisk shrugged helplessly. "I don't know how to explain this in any other way."

Freddy reached out, and grabbed her hand. "It's okay, I think I understand what you were trying to say."

Frisk blushed, and she lay down, still holding his hand. "Thanks, Freddy."

"I'm still going to convince you that humans aren't all bad."

"Good luck."

* * *

Harley was picking up the mess that Freddy had made in his room.

" _...I do trust Chara, right?"_ He stood still and pondered that question for a moment. " _I mean, I tell her almost everything, and… Argh!"_ He slammed his fist into the wall, growling in anger.

"Harley? What's wrong?"

He had been so lost in thought, he hadn't noticed Emilia walk in.

He raised an eyebrow. "I got into an argument with Freddy. Put some clothes on, woman, your towel is slipping. Here, I'll step out."

"Nah, it doesn't matter." Emilia told him. She shut the door behind her, and walked past him, over to her clothes. That left Harley staring at the same spot she had previously occupied as he heard her drop her towel.

"What did you two fight about?" She asked as she dressed, smirking when she noticed that Harley was refusing to turn around.

"My trust of you, him, and Chara."

Emilia pulled on her shirt, and walked in front of Harley.

"Put some pants on, woman."

"I sleep like this, manman."

The two of them stared at each other, until Harley shook his head and laughed.

"Did you just call me 'manman?'"

"Just saying 'man' wasn't enough. I wanted two syllables."

"Your fuckin ridiculous."

Emilia gave a little bow. "Indeed, that is me." Her smile faded, "So I get why he would question your trust in me and him, seeing as you just met us, but Chara? Why shouldn't you trust her?"

"I think Frisk has been telling him a bit too much."

"Wait, does he know about that thing that she did? The one you wouldn't tell?"

"Yes." Harley sighed. "I'm just going to tell you too, so you aren't left in the dark." He took a deep breath.

_-Chara, carving into his chest with her knife as she forced herself upon him-_

"Harley, you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry. Just… having flashbacks." He shook his head, pushing the mental image aside. "While Chara was still corrupted by Frisk, she believed herself better than humans, which is why shouldn't accept the mistakes that she had made. However, as I tried to convince her of this, she beat me multiple times. And when I finally convinced her that she was only human, she tortured and raped me."  
"So like that man did."

"It was different, Emilia. She didn't fully know what she was doing, and I know that she regrets it to this day."

"Interesting point, but who are you trying to convince of it, you or me?" Harley raised and eyebrow, and she continued. "I believed you before you even tried to defend her. I heard about the corruption before. But it's not me who can't forgive Chara, it's you. Why else are you holding yourself back?"

Harley silently gazed at her.

"Not that I blame you either, Harley. If someone had done that to me, it doesn't matter the reasoning, I would never forgive them."

Harley turned around, and walked over to his bed, and sat on it, placing his head in his hands. Emilia walked over and sat beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I don't want to make you angry, Harley, but maybe Freddy has a point? I know you trust Chara, but do you trust her?"

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Harley asked, his voice muffled.

"Well, here's an example: Instead of having this conversation with her, like you should, you're talking to me, a girl that you met on two days ago."

"Well, somehow you have managed to get me to trust you in the short amount of time I've known you. It could have something to do with how honest you've been with me. As for Freddy, my sister trusts him, and he seems like a nice guy. That was enough for me. Of course, I don't let my guard down around any of you. Both Chara and Frisk have hurt me before, and I haven't know you two long enough to trust you with my safety."

"There it is, Harley. Right there. You don't completely trust us."

Harley fell silent. "...I guess you're right. The only person I trust with my safety is Sans, and that's because even after I slaughtered him in an alternate timeline, and he found me weak and sick, he didn't harm me. He brought me to his home and nursed me back to health, and gave me a chance to both explain myself, and then prove that I meant what I said."

"Well, at least you have someone, Harley."

Harley gave her a soft smile. "Well, you are worming your way into that group too. I'm not normally this open with people."  
"I'm glad to hear."

"Get some rest. You have school in the morning."

* * *

On the other side of Harley's door, Chara slumped down to the floor, tears trickling down her face from what she just heard.

Frisk was  _right._


	36. One Down, Six Left

Chara awoke in her bed.

She sat up, swinging her feet down to the floor.

She stood, and stumbled out of the room, heading down the hall towards the bathroom.

" _Why do I feel like shit?"_ She asked herself as she walked in. She glanced at herself in the mirror, and saw her tear-stricken face. " _Oh, yeah."_

" _I hurt him… I hurt him badly."_ Chara sat on the toilet, and began to sob, placing her head in her hands. " _I've left lasting scars on a man who didn't trust easily in the first place… how am I going to get through to him now?"_

There was a knock on the door, and her head shot up.

Emilia was standing at the door, her eyes burning with curiosity.

"You okay, Chara?" She asked.

Chara stood, drying her eyes. "I'm fine." she replied shortly. "Is there something you need?"

Emilia raised her eyebrows. "I need to shit, Chara." she replied, crossing her arms over her chest as she matched Chara's tone. "And you're bawling in the bathroom. So if your 'fine,' get out,  _please._ "

Chara tilted her head slightly. "You want to rephrase that?"  
Emilia shook her head. "No, I think i'm good."

"Oh, alright. Good to know." Chara walked towards her, and slammed her hand into her chest, sending her crashing into the wall behind her.

"Look,  _bitch_." Chara said, walking over to Emilia. "I don't know what type of right you think you have, but just because Harley trusts you doesn't mean I do. So when you address me, you  _will_ do it with respect. I am the princess of Monsterkind, and I'd be  _damned_ if a filthy human like you spoke to me like that. Do you understand?"

Emilia struggled to her feet, and summoned her blaster, charging it to fire, but before she could, Chara shot forwards, faster than Emilia's eyes could follow. She seized Emilia by her throat, and threw her down the hall towards the stairs.

Frisk dashed out of their room, with Freddy right behind her. "Chara!" She yelled. "The hell are you doing!"

"You filthy human." Chara growled. "You seek to serve in the army lead by my family? Then you will address me properly. I am the Princess of Monsterkind, and I have tolerated you humans for far too long."

Emilia spat out blood, and shakily rose to her feet. "So what are you going to do, Chara? Return to Genocide?"

Chara opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"HUMANS!" Papyrus's jovial shout could be heard from downstairs. "MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN PLEASE! YOU ALL MUST EAT BEFORE YOU GO TO SCHOOL!"

Chara dusted off her shoulders, and walked forwards, past Emilia. "This isn't over." She told her, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

Frisk and Freddy followed Chara, with the latter giving Emilia a concerned look as he strode past. She wiped the blood off her face, and turned to gaze down the stairs.

" _No. It's not over."_ She thought. " _I am growing tired of you two looking down on us humans."_

Emilia followed them down the stairs.

* * *

Harley leaned his head back against the wall, and let out a sigh.

"what's wrong, kid."

He and Sans were sitting on the top of the tallest building in the city, using it as a vantage point.

"I'm kind of hoping this plan doesn't work." Harley admitted.

Sans just gazed at him, waiting for him to explain.

"So much could go wrong. So many could get hurt. So I don't want it to work, although I know it needs to."

Sans nodded. "i know, kid. but there is so much at stake here. we need this to work. it's our best chance."

Sighing , Harley nodded in agreement. The pair fell silent as they gazed out over the city, waiting for a sign that there was trouble.

"...harley?" Sans sounded hesitant. "i've learned a lot about you over the last few days, so i need to ask you this - why do you trust me?"

Harley gazed at the skeleton, and Sans shrugged. "you don't seem to be the forgiving type, harley."

"Neither do you, Sans." Harley replied, scratching his beard. "And yet, you forgave me. You forgave me for slaughtering your entire race, and were willing to give me a chance, even though when you found me in the snow, I was weak and ill, and you had every right to end me right there. But you decided to let me explain, to allow me to defend my actions and stupidity. You trusted me, Sans, even though I didn't deserve it."

"you'd made a mistake, kid. and maybe it was because i had become so desensitized to it, but genocide wasn't the worst you could've done."

_-Finally beating Sans, impaling him in his moment of weakness-_

Harley laughed bitterly. "Oh, really? What could I have done that was worse?"

"you could have done it again, kid. like frisk did. but you chose to fix yourself and the damage both you and your sister had caused. that was pretty noble of you."

Harley gazed downwards. "But was it worth it?" He asked. Sans gazed at him blankly, and Harley pressed on. "Look, I know what Frisk was doing was horrible, but at least no one remembered. Now, since we freed you, we are facing lasting consequences. Dozens of monsters have perished, including Asgore, all from a group that want to force monsters back underground, or slaughter us all."

Sans shook his head, frowning. "look, harley, you lived through three timelines, all different. you never faced what frisk was doing to us. it wasn't just me that was realizing what was wrong. every monster was beginning to have nightmares about her, and i'd imagine that they still do. what she was doing was echoing across time, for you cannot commit such heinous actions and expect to escape without consequence."

"But she did, didn't she? She helped me free all of you, and now she is the princess, with a great guy crushing on her and subjects who love her. She walks around with a chip on her shoulder, and the monsters treat her no different, although they should hate her as much as she hates the humans."  
"yeah, she is no better than the humans she despises." Sans shrugged, crossing his arms. "but the world works in mysterious ways. it sent you to stop her, and it'll probably punish her, too."

"I mean, I do love her. She is my sister. But she needs to stop this somehow."

"maybe you should talk to her about it."

Harley shrugged, and stared off into the distance, sinking deep into his own thoughts.

* * *

"So you attacked her?" Frisk asked, throwing the ball she was holding at the floor.

Chara grunted her confirmation, as she grabbed a dodgeball off the ground, and hurled it across the room at the opposing team.

"Because she didn't like you disrespecting her, so she disrespected you?" Frisk snatched a ball out of the air, and threw it back. "That required you beating her into the ground?"

"DIdn't you do that, just yesterday?"

"We were training, Chara. That is much, much different." Frisk dove to the ground, dodging a ball and grabbing another off the ground. Jumping to her feet, she continued. "Besides, Emilia is a pretty good person. She has to be, why else would Harley be trusting her?"

Chara snorted. "Harley doesn't trust any of us, Frisk. He's just giving her a chance. Same with you and me."

Frisk shrugged. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"How does that make sense?" Frisk lightly tossed a ball, baiting someone to catch it, and when they moved towards it, Chara threw her ball, slamming it into the student's ankle, knocking them off balance.

"I betrayed him, Chara. We knew very early on that he wasn't supposed to be around, but he didn't. Just think about it for a moment. That Genocide Route, the thing he sees as his biggest crime, is because of us. Because I was allowing myself to be commanded by my desires, and because you were too far gone to even care." Frisk held out one hand, and caught a ball. "And what did we do next? I spent an entire route trying to kill him, and you were beating and abusing him, even scaring him permanently. Add that alongside what we went through growing up, and…' She shrugged yet again. "I wouldn't be surprised if he trusted no one at all. The fact that he's trying shows that he is a much better person than I am."

"You don't care that your own brother doesn't trust you?"

"Of course I care. But it's my fault, right?" Frisk chuckled, and used her ball to deflect another that was flying at her. "And if he doesn't agree to our Asriel plan, we will be betraying him again, won't we? So we better make sure that it is worth it, Chara."

A ball slammed into Chara's chest, and she fell on her ass. Frisk glanced over to see who threw it, and saw Emilia tossing a ball from hand to hand, a smirk on her face. Chara growled, and stood, walking over to the group of people who were out.

* * *

A little while later, the bell rang. Everyone began to leave, but Undyne called out to the kids' retreating backs.

"Chara, Frisk, Emilia, Freddy! Come here please!"

Emilia glanced at Freddy, who shrugged, and they walked over to her, with Chara and Frisk striding over as well.

"So I was asked to give you four time to train." She told them. "Since you guys will be on the front lines, you must be prepared to fight multiple people at once. So," She grinned widely. "You four will fight each other! I want no killing, obviously, and to not maim to the point that I can't heal it, because we need you guys in case of an emergency. Understood?" They all nodded, and she pointed to the four corners of the gym. "Each of you go to a corner, and draw your weapons. You can use every skill available, as long as you don't blow each other to smithereens. Now, move!"

Chara and Emilia shot each other dirty looks, and headed to opposite sides of the gym. They all turned, as Frisk, Freddy, and Emilia summoned their sword and shield constructs, and Chara summoned her knives, and began to channel her Determination into her limbs.

"Alright." Undyne walked over to the stands on the far side, and jumped onto the top. "Begin!"

Chara shot towards Emilia, who was expecting her attack, summoning her Gaster Blaster, quickly charging it and firing. Chara didn't have enough time to dodge, so she took the blast head on, being knocked backwards into the wall.

"Ugh." She groaned, and looked up when she heard a loud humming. She spun to the side as another blast from Emilia's cannon hit the spot she had previously been occupying.

"Look, kid, your cannons don't hurt nearly as much as Sans's!" Chara shouted, running towards her once again. "You lack the poisoning effects of KR!" She launched a volley of knives at Emilia, who leaped backwards, dodging most of it and catching the rest on her shield. Chara shot forwards again, lunging for Emilia's arms, who barely had time to block the knives with her sword and shield.

Emilia growled, and deflected another attack from Chara, backing up as she relentlessly struck out, again and again barely blocking her strikes.

"She's not giving Emilia enough time to focus." Frisk commented to Freddy. The two of them had begun to fight, but stopped to watch Chara and Emilia when they saw how viciously the two were attacking the other.

"Is there some drama I'm not aware of between them?" Freddy asked, holding his hands up in confusion. "I know they that fought this morning, but didn't you say that was because Chara didn't like Emilia disrespecting her?"

"Chara has a lot of anger and frustration pent up right now, and Emilia has become her target to release it all." Frisk told him. "As for Emilia, who the hell knows. She's definitely angry about this morning, and probably knew right away that Chara was coming after her. I'm just wondering how long she can stand against Chara when she's angry."

Chara spun, slamming her blades into Emilia's shield, and launched a knife volley at her. Emilia vainly tried to deflect them all, but as several slammed into her shield, one impaled her in the shoulder, which caused her to drop the construct, which faded as it hit the ground.

Chara, seeing an opening, leaped forward, but Emilia shouted, thrusting out her fist. A beam of energy fired down on Chara, hitting her dead on, and sending her crashing to the floor.

Emilia charged, swinging her sword down at Chara, who blocked it by crossing her knives over each other into an X. Chara kicked out, hitting Emilia's foot, causing her to fall onto one knee. Chara then tackled her, knocking Emilia onto her back and landing on top of her. Chara swung her knives down again, only to be struck in the side by another blast of energy. Chara flew into the wall again, and Emilia fired again as she ran towards her, pushing her deeper into the wall. When she reached Chara, she began to punch her over and over, her magic flowing into her fists, blood flying with each strike.

Before long, she noticed that an oily black substance had mixed with the blood, as Chara caught her one of her fists. Looking down, Emilia was shocked to see that Chara's eyes now resembled empty black pits, with that oily substance leaking out of them. She grinned, and the substance was leaking out through her teeth, too.

"That is  _not_ good." Frisk muttered worriedly, and ran forwards.

Chara stamped on Emilia's foot, and twisted her arm, breaking it at the elbow with a loud  _snap._ She then kicked out, slamming her foot into her knee, breaking it too, before throwing Emilia across the gym, rocketing after her, and slamming her into the wall. Chara pulled out her knife, and slammed it into Emilia's spine, severing her spinal cord, and dropping her onto the ground.

" _ **This is why you don't fuck with me, Emilia."**_ Chara laughed, and threw her knife at Emilia's head, only for someone's arm to appear, and shout in pain as it embedded itself into it.

Chara growled, and looked up, seeing Freddy before Frisk tackled Chara, pinning her to the ground.

"Chara! Snap out of it!" Frisk shouted. "Freddy, call Harley!"

" _ **Get off, Frisk!**_ " Chara threw Frisk off and rose, only for a glowing blue spear to appear in her chest. She froze, knowing better than to move with blue magic inside her.

"Don't. Move." Undyne growled in her ear, and stepped in front of her. "I told you, no maiming. This was a training session, not combat. I don't  _care_ that you two had a quarrel, you need to learn that their is a time and place for everything, Chara! You could've killed her!"

Chara growled, and that's when Undyne noticed the state of her eyes and mouth. She glanced at Frisk, her eyes widening..

"Uh, what is this?"

"It's bad news. Pin her in place, Undyne, now."

"She already is-"

"More! Now!"

Undyne could hear the urgency in Frisk's voice, and she nodded, summoning more spears from the wall behind her, impaling Chara on them.

"Don't move a muscle, Chara. I don't want to harm you." Undyne told her. "But I will if I must."

Chara merely growled again, being unable to move her mouth due to the spear sticking out of her jaw.

Suddenly, Harley and Sans appeared in the gym. Harley had his sword drawn, and Sans immediately summoned a blaster and charged it, the hum filling the room. The pair looked confused, as they were clearly expecting a fight and didn't see one. However they quickly saw Chara, and a look of understanding dawned on Harley's face, while Sans's turned away from her in disgust, and saw Emilia on the ground, bleeding as Freddy tried to heal her.

"Sans, take Freddy, Frisk, and Emilia out of here, now. Bring them to Toriel." Harley commanded. Sans glanced from Chara to Emilia, clearly having an internal debate before nodding his head and shrugging.

"sure thing, kid. be careful." He walked over, and the four of them vanished.

"And me?" Undyne asked.

"Go to the exit." Harley told her. "And when you close the door behind you, release Chara."

"But-"  
"Please, Undyne." Harley gave her a strained smile. "I got this."

She hesitated for a few moments, but she eventually nodded. "Okay." Undyne walked away, and when she reached the exit, she glanced back at Harley, who gave her an encouraging smile. She looked away, and walked out.

A few moments after she stepped out, the spears vanished, and Chara lunged out towards Harley, her knife drawn.

* * *

Sans, Frisk, Freddy, and Emilia all appeared in the middle of Toriel's magic class, which scared the crap out of Toriel.

"Sans!" She sighed. "How many times do I- Holy shite what happened!"

The class gasped, first at the fact that Toriel swore, and then when they realized what was wrong. Freddy was still desperately trying to heal Emilia, and Toriel ran over to help.

"How did this happen!" Someone cried out.

"chara." Sans replied through gritted teeth.

"What?" Toriel asked, her eyes widening in confusion. "Chara would never-"

"Mom, there are many things that you don't know about the three of us." Frisk told her. "And one of them is that Chara became-" Frisk cut herself off, glancing around. "I'll explain later. Just... know that she wasn't fully under control of her actions." Sans snorted, but didn't say anything.

"Oh… okay." Toriel replied. "Well, tell me. What isn't healed?"

"I healed all of her external and most of her internal wounds." Freddy told her. "But I'm struggling with her HP and, well, I frankly don't know how to repair her spinal cord."

"Her spinal cord..?" Toriel's mouth hung open as she quickly restored Emilia's HP. "The spinal cord isn't something that can just be healed. It takes time and equipment that I don't have, and even  _then_  she may never walk again." Toriel placed a hand on Emilia's head, mentally checking her vitals. " And to top it off, she's sunk into a comatose state."

Sans facepalmed. "okay. give her to me, i can take her somewhere safe." Toriel glanced up at him, and he lost his patience. "everyone back away!" he snapped, and they all stepped back. Sans grabbed Emilia by the shoulder, and they both vanished.

* * *

Harley sidestepped Chara, and she flew past, rolling on the ground and leaping to her feet.

" _ **So you don't trust me, Harley.**_ " she said. " _ **After everything we've been through?**_ "

"It's rude to eavesdrop, Chara." he replied. "That was a private conversation."

" _ **My ear slipped, sorry.**_ "

"Is that why you're mad?" He asked. "Is that why you dealt crippling blows to Emilia? You and I both know that nerves don't heal easily."

" _ **She is going to be out of commision for a while, Harley.**_ "

"But why?" He asked her. "She is a good person, Chara. She's been trying to help me with my issues. I don't understand why you would-"

Chara leaped forwards, striking at Harley again. He dodged once more, and swung at her with his fists, striking her on the side of her head. She stumbled and fell to the floor, and Harley froze, an image flashing past his eyes.

_-He slammed his fist into Chara's throat, and jumped, slamming his knee into her chin, breaking her neck. She fell to the floor, dead-_

Harley heard a scuffle of feet, and tried to defend himself, but only managed to redirect the attack away from his heart, with it slamming into his gut instead. Chara pushed Harley backwards, until he was up against the wall.

Harley spat up blood, turning his head so it didn't land on her. "Chara, why are you doing this?"

" _ **I… I**_ don't  _ **know.**_ " she said. " _ **I'm… I'm so…**_ " She began to weep, her eyes returning to normal. "I'm so sorry, Harley." she pulled the knife out of his stomach, and dropped it, falling to her knees.

Harley slid down, trying to channel his Determination to his stomach. The wound slowly closed, but his HP had dropped to 10. He glanced over at Chara, who still had tears pouring down her face as she gazed at him.

"What have I done?" She asked him, her face contorted with grief. " _What did I do_!"

Harley gave her a pained smile. "Nothing that can't be undone, I hope." An explosion sounded in the distance, and their heads whipped around as they saw Undyne be thrown backwards into the gym. Several NHDS troops rushed in, all charging at her, but one man walked over to Harley and Chara.

A man in all black, who had deep, blazing red eyes that matched his dark red hair, with a blade strapped to his back.

Harley struggled to his feet, and Chara turned to face him, drying her eyes.

"No, don't waste your energy, you will be dead in a matter of minutes." The man said, his deep voice could be heard clearly over the combat.

"I rather stand." Harley replied, drawing his sword and widening his stance. "Who are you?"

The man laughed. "My name is not important. I will tell you this, however. I am the leader of the NHDS, and I embody the Soul of Rage."

Harley's grip on his sword tightened. "So you naturally are a Determination Soul?" The man nodded. "Why do you hate monsters so much?"

"The monsters are vicious creatures, Harley. Us and them, living together? It's not natural. However, I fight because it's what I was trained to do."

"Trained? By whom?" Chara asked.

"Now wouldn't you like to know?" He chuckled. "On the off chance you live, I will not be spreading anymore information. However," He drew his blade, and held it in front of him. "I am confident that you are going to die here."

"You are going to have one hell of a fight." Harley snarled, and Chara drew her knives.

"I'm counting on it."

Chara shot forwards, and the man backhanded her, knocking her across the room, and she slammed through the wall and down to the pavement below.

"Chara!" Harley shouted, and he summoned a shield construct on his left hand. "You're going to pay for that!" Harley charged forwards, swiping his sword at the man. He leaped back, and responded with a strike of his own, which shattered the blade in Harley's hands. He then kicked out, striking Harley's chest and knocking him back.

"Time to die, kid. He lifted his sword, preparing to deal the finishing blow -

Only for his sword to slice right through Undyne.

Harley gaped at Undyne, and she grinned at him.

- _Undyne, with an open wound across her armor, as she told MK to flee-_

"Heh…" Undyne chuckled. "I killed all of those guys… only to die without a fight at the end, huh? Well, I did my best…" she collapsed, and the man snorted, kicking her aside as Harley ran forwards, attacking him with a sword construct. They met blades a few times, but it wasn't long before the man shattered the weapon and threw Harley against the wall. He strode forwards and lifted his blade, swinging down at him once more, only for Undyne to appear in front of him again.

He growled. "Just die!" He impaled her with his blade, and kicked her backwards.

"No…" She muttered, standing up. "You think that this is it? That's you've won? Well, you best believe this isn't over, friend." He slashed through her body again, and she merely grinned. "You cannot begin to understand how much this hurts, human. It's taking all of my willpower to simply remain together, and it would be so  _easy_ to die. But I'm not done. I can't quit, not yet. I need to remain, for those counting on me… Alphys… Papyrus... " She glanced back at the wounded Harley. "And to avenge  _ASGORE…_ For these reasons, I stand. For these reasons, I fight. And I can feel it, the combined power of the hopes and dreams of all of these people, all of them counting on our victory, all dreaming for the brighter day that we were promised, the brighter day that is being blocked by  _you._  So as long as you stand in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams, I will  _REMAIN_!"

In a bright flash of white, Undyne's body reformed and morphed, changing into a form Harley hadn't see in a while. And when the man opened his eyes, he saw the fully armored Undyne the Undying standing in his way.

She grinned, and pointed her spear at him. "You're going to have to try a little bit  _harder_  than  _that_."


	37. Rage, Hate, and the Undying

Explosions sounded throughout the building, causing it to shake on its very foundations.

Frisk and Freddy were running through the active combats that were breaking out everywhere. Toriel had tried to keep her students in the classroom, but most of them followed Frisk out, determined to protect their fellow students. Grillby and a couple dozen other Snowdin Monsters had also appeared, all of which had been waiting around the school in case of an emergency. Sans was yet to be seen, along with Papyrus, Harley, Undyne, and Chara.

They reached the main lobby, and froze. In the center of the area, Papyrus stood over many fallen humans, his boots covered in dust. A snarl unbefitting of the normally upbeat and friendly skeleton was on his face, and he was holding a blue and orange bone in each hand. And in front of him stood woman with gleaming silver eyes, a glowing blue and silver scythe in one hand, and a revolver on her belt.

Frisk gasped, and took a step back. "Another negative trait?"

"OH, THERE YOU ARE, FRISK. THIS FOUL HUMAN HERE SLEW MANY CHILDREN AND MANY OF MY FRIENDS, INCLUDING POOR SNOWDRAKE. I DON'T KNOW WHERE SANS IS, SO WOULD YOU CARE TO HELP ME TEACH THIS ONE A LESSON?"

Frisk and Freddy both ran to Papyrus's sides, summoning their own blades and standing at the ready.

"Who are you?" Frisk asked.

The woman grinned. "I am a corrupted Integrity Soul, and I now embody the Silver Soul of Cruelty." She replied, her voice sounding strangely… distorted, as if coming out from a voice changer. "Something I sense deep within you, Frisk."

Frisk didn't waste a moment talking. She leaped forwards, striking out at Cruelty, who deflected her blade with ease.

"You fool!" She laughed. "Integrity Souls are your worst nightmare, we have immense power within us!"

"YES, WE ALL KNOW YOUR TEXTBOOK DEFINITION, HUMAN."

"'Integrity. Will only fight when absolutely required, even after most Kindness Souls have begun to battle. Have large reserves of energy, and can unleash it through terrifying methods, such as blasters, energy beams, and bladed weapons, but using their magic tires them quickly. Prefer to use scythes/swords to combat. Magic type, Gravity.'" Freddy quoted, as he ran to join the combat.

"Yes, but what you don't know is this." Cruelty raised her hand, lifting the three of them up, and tossing them back. "That as the Soul of Cruelty, I get stronger the more viscous I am. And I am feeling pretty damned ruthless." She laughed, and leaped forwards, grabbing Freddy by the throat and throwing him into Frisk, and spun at Papyrus, only to be met by his bonestaffs.

"I AM A MONSTER, HUMAN."  
Cruelty sneered. "I'm aware, dipshit."

"AND AS A MONSTER, I DON'T 'EMBODY' ANY SINGLE TRAIT. INSTEAD, I HAVE TWO. BRAVERY AND INTEGRITY." Papyrus slammed his foot into the ground, and a huge bone shot out of it. Cruelty leaped back, dodging the bone, only to be met with an animalistic skull right in front of her, fully charged. It fired, pushing her into the ground. "I AM NOT NATURALLY AGGRESSIVE, UNLIKE MOST BRAVERIES. I DO NOT LIKE TO FIGHT, UNLESS IT IS MY ONLY CHOICE, AND I WILL USUALLY TRY TO HELP GUIDE MY ENEMIES DOWN THE RIGHT PATH."

"BUT YOU ARE NO CHILD. YOU ARE AN ADULT. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, AND YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO HARM OTHERS. YOU HAVE KILLED SO MANY KIDS…" Papyrus's voice shook, as Frisk and Freddy stepped beside him. "YOU DON'T DESERVE THAT CHANCE."

Cruelty laughed. "I will admit, I didn't expect you to be strong. You caught me off guard, Papyrus. Now, are you done monologuing so we can fight?"

"YOU SHALL TASTE THE COMBINED POWER OF iNTEGRITY, BRAVERY, KINDNESS, AND DETERMINATION. TO BATTLE, MY FRIENDS!" They charged once more, with Papyrus's cannon floating above them.

* * *

Sans appeared in the True Lab.

He glanced down at the unconscious Emilia, taking a note of her HP. Thanks to Toriel's healing, it was no longer dropping. However, she was still in a coma, and her spine was severed.

" _fuck."_ Sans swore, levitating her onto one of the beds. He then used his magic to summon over various pieces of equipment, including a tube to hook her up to an IV. However, he had to do what he hated first.

Still using his magic, Sans pulled Emilia out of her shirt and pants, and put her into a medical gown, tying it at the back. He then stuck her with the IV, booting up the machine to begin the leak into her body. Lastly, he placed the leads on her chest, allowing him to see her vitals as the information flowed onto his screen.

" _heartbeat is normal. respiration, average."_ Sans grabbed a clipboard off the nearest desk, and hastily scribbled down his findings. " _why in the everlovin' hell were you fighting chara, emilia?"_

For the first time, Sans glanced around the True Lab, only to realize that someone had been there before him. Many of the cabinets were searched through, and…

" _the soul chamber is open."_ Sans dashed over, and saw what had been taken: six of the seven soul containers, which he and Alphys had fixed after the barrier had been broken.

" _what in the hell..?"_ Sans's eyes went dark with fear. " _who would need the soul containers that know how to get into… here…"_

" _only alphys, harley, frisk, chara, and i have the code required to come down here. so either frisk or chara stole the containers."_ Sans shook his head. " _they better have a damned good reason. i'll confront them later. for now, i have a patient to tend to."_

* * *

For the first time in forever, the man felt fear.

This shouldn't be possible.

He deflected another lightning-fast strike from Undyne, and he leaped back, hurling a ball of energy at her. She side-stepped it, and responded by shooting a volley of spears at him.

He knew that monsters embodied more than one dominant trait.

He thought he knew Undyne's. Bravery and Justice. Pretty straightforward. Seeing as she was the former Captain of the Royal Guard.

But Undyne was showing that she had a massive amount of Determination flowing through her, probably enough to rival even himself and Harley.

Enough to heal not one, not two, but three fatal wounds on her body.

Enough to allow her to slaughter all of his men, and to give her more than just a fighting chance against him.

" _Time to stop dicking around. Otherwise, I'm going to lose my life._ "

Rage roared out in pain as one of Undyne's spears made their mark. Eyes flashing, he ripped it out and and channeled his magic, the blade of his sword glowing a deep, angry red.

Rage swung his sword over his head, and brought it down, sending a wave of energy at Undyne, who rolled to the side, dodging just in time. She responded by sending other volley at him, but caught him off guard as two came out from behind him, impaling him in the back.

"Fuck!" He swore, and slammed his blade into the ground. A fissure opened up in the gym, allowing them to see the floor below. Undyne glanced down, momentarily distracted by an active combat below them, and Rage seized the opportunity to attack her exposed throat. She merely snatched him out of the air by his throat, and slammed him into the ground.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" She asked, and punched him in his face, breaking his nose. "I trained my whole life to fight punks like you, human. I will  _not_  fall that easily."

Rage grimaced, and slammed his hand on the ground. The floor underneath him and Undyne exploded, sending both of them soaring in different directions.

Rage landed next to Harley, who had sat up, and was eating to heal his HP. Wordlessly, Rage upholstered his gun and aimed at Harley, channeling his magic as his did so. He began to pull the trigger, but grunted as Harley kicked him in the face, and pulled out his own gun, the one he had stolen from Fear. Harley fired, the explosion that followed sending him and Rage rocketing in different directions. Rage stood, and fired at Harley, only for it to be deflected by one of Undyne's spears. Harley glanced down into the fissure himself, and with a worried expression, leaped down to the floor below.

"Look, I'm done fucking around." Rage growled, holstering his gun and summoning an energy sword. "You caught me off guard with your strength, monster, but don't think for a second that you overpower me."

Undyne grinned, her one eye gleaming with the power of Determination. "Good. I was beginning to think that you were weaker than your underlings."

The two beings of immense power charged one another, and collided once more. Spear to sword, Monster vs. Human.

* * *

Chara was harvesting Souls.

She was fighting her way back to the gym, but whenever she saw someone dying that was a Soul she needed, she would go and comfort them as they passed on, even telling a few what would be done with their Soul, and how they will help Save the world from the NHDS. And when they died, she collect the Soul.

So far she had five of the six she could collect, with the last she needed being Kindness.

And she hated herself for it.

She knew firsthand that having your Soul absorbed would keep you aware of what was going on in the world, so these people would not be laid to rest. But they needed Asriel, so she kept collecting regardless.

"So you're Chara."

She spun around to see Karla, the Soul of Vengeance, standing behind her. Chara drew her knives, only for Karla to shake her head, holding up her hands in surrender.

"I'm not here to fight you. You can kill me, if you like, but I am done fighting."

Chara cautiously lowered her knives, but kept her grip tight on them. "What do you want?"  
"Did you know I had a son?" Karla asked. "I mean, of course you didn't. He was a beautiful boy, with eyes just like mine. A beautiful blue, to be exact. When I had him, him father left us, so it was just me, working constantly to support us, and we weren't that bad off. But he was an adventurous kid, never could stay in one place for too long. He loved to explore, and one day, he went to far. Explored where he shouldn't. And his friends came to me, saying they couldn't find him, that he had -"

"Climbed the mountain." Chara finished, horrified, "And we had six souls…"

Karla nodded. "Don't you get it? Asgore killed my son. He killed my poor little Jeffery. That's why I joined the NHDS. My desire for vengeance drove up my LV, but now that Asgore is gone, i don't want to fight anymore. I just want to see my Jeffery again."

"Why are you telling me this, Karla?" Chara asked.

"To give you hope. Your LV is driven by your desire, and capability, to cause others harm. If you lose that desire, you can't push far, and if you remain in control of your abilities, this can happen." Karla displayed her LV, and Chara saw that it had dropped; the Soul of Vengeance was no more. At level six, the soul of Bravery shone instead. Chara lifted her eyes and met Karla's, and saw that they were indeed a brilliant blue.

"Don't lose hope, Chara. Just because you are killing to defend, it doesn't mean that you shall be your power, don't let it control you, and you and your family shall be alright."

"...Thanks, Karla." Chara turned, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Wait." Karla called, and Chara turned. "I… I also want to apologize for what I did. His actions weren't yours, and despite that monster killing my son and all those other kids, you still lost your father because of me."

"Because of… Wait." Chara took a step back. "You killed Asgore?"

Karla nodded.

"Then I will grant you the end you desire." Chara spat, and she shot forwards, slamming her knife into Karla's throat. "But first you will experience pain like no other. For my father." Chara withdrew the knife, and watched as Karla fell to the ground.

"R-remain… in… control…" Karla choked out, and a weak smile lit up her face. "Jeffery… I'm coming…"

Chara watched the lights fade from Karla's eyes, as the Soul of Bravery floated up and shattered. She knelt beside her, and closed her eyes.

"Rest in peace, and be reunited with your son." Chara said to the fallen mother, and she stood, turning away. "And father… I have avenged you."

Hearing fighting coming from directly behind the wall beside her, she slammed her fist into the wall, creating an explosion as she created a hole for her to enter through.

* * *

Papyrus gasped in pain, stumbling back as Frisk and Freddy charged forwards.

The ground was littered with shards of bones. Two of his Gaster Blasters had been destroyed, their remains lying on top one another. Freddy, despite not showing any physical wounds, had his HP dropped to 10. Only Frisk was relatively ok, with her 32 HP only having dropped by one.

" _THE SMALL ONE IS VERY DETERMINED."_ Papyrus thought, picking himself off the ground. " _IT MAKES SENSE THAT SHE CAN STAND UP TO A LV 20 AT ONLY LV 4. THE STRENGTH DIFFERENCE DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU CAN HEAL FROM WOUNDS."_

Freddy leaped back, dodging the curved edge of the scythe, only to to have the handle slammed into his side. He soared back, crashing into the wall, as Cruelty leapt over to him, and dug her scythe into his knee, pulling Freddy towards her as he howled in pain.

"You are a fool, Freddy." She whispered, and summoned a silver dagger, slamming it in between the ribs on the right side of his chest. "Die painfully." She dropped to the floor, laughing as Frisk's sword swung overhead, missing Cruelty by a hair. She kicked out, knocking Frisk down too. She summoned a sword, and slammed the hilt of it into Papyrus, who had ran over to help the humans. It caught him in the shoulder, the force of the impact cracking his armour and causing him to spin to the ground.

The building shook as an explosion could be heard from the room above. Cruelty glanced up to see a fissure opening in the ceiling above them, with debris raining down on top of all of them. Frisk took advantage of the distraction, and tackled her, ripping her firearm out of her hands, and shooting off a round into her stomach. Cruelty shouted, and bodily threw Frisk upwards into the air, grabbed her by her left arm, and slammed her into the ground, the force of the impact creating a small crater in the floor. Then, still holding onto Frisk's arm, she kicked her, and twisted her arm ninety degrees, shattering her elbow with a sickening  _crack_. An inhuman scream of pain exited Frisk's mouth, and she swung a blade at Cruelty's neck, only for her to stamp on Frisk's chest, shattering multiple ribs.

A loud hum filled the air, and seven blasters fired upon Cruelty, every one of them meeting their mark, burying her into the ground and creating a massive crater. Papyrus walked over, and lifted Frisk off the ground, carrying her over to the wall where he had propped up Freddy.

"IT'S OKAY, HUMAN." He assured. "I'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE."

"Oh, will you now?"

Papyrus turned, summoning his bone-staff once more. Cruelty had climbed out of the crater, and was finally looking as if she had taken damage. The bullet wound in her stomach had stopped bleeding, and most of her clothes had been burned clean off, due to the intense heat that the Gaster Blasters had poured into her. They had also left her with burns all over her body, with a portion of her shoulder having had most of the skin blackened. But despite all of this, she was grinning like a madwoman.

"All of this damage, and," She displayed her her HP, with it sitting at 74, "And you have only taken away twenty-five of my HP. In the meantime, both of your teammates have been removed from combat, with poor Frisky slowing losing HP due to the internal bleeding that I gave her."

Papyrus gritted his teeth, knowing that this battle was no longer in his favor. His grip tightened on his staff, and watched as Cruelty laughed out loud.

"This is what we have been struggling against?" Cruelty asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "I mean, I knew Joseph was a joke, but he lost to this  _child_?" She shook her head. "Rage should've sent me out from the beginning. I could've ended this  _much_ sooner, with less casualties to our side."

"YOU AIM TO BE RID OF US MONSTERS, BUT WITH EVERY ATTACK, MORE INNOCENT CIVILIANS DIE THAN MY KIND."

Cruelty shrugged. "Do you really think I care? I don't give a damn about the conflict, or hating monsters. I personally just enjoy killing, and allying myself with the NHDS was the best way to do so!" She jumped forwards, kicking out at Papyrus. He sidestepped, only for her to shoot him in his shoulder, the one she had cracked. The bullet ripped right through the armour, and tore his arm clean off. Howling, Papyrus stumbled back and tripped over debris, slamming his skull into the ground.

"This is the best the monster's had to throw at me? Pathetic." Cruelty shook her head, and reloaded her gun. "I should've been put up against Harley or some shit."

"I can arrange that!" Harley's voice rang through the air as he dropped to the ground from the floor above. Cruelty glanced over at him, and was caught off guard by the bullet that tore into the hand that was holding her gun. She dropped it, only for the wall behind Harley to explode. Cruelty attempted to take advantage of the situation, as Frisk had, only for Chara to jump out and slam into her mid-air. The pair slid on the ground, with Cruelty crying out in pain as the rocks tore into her back. Chara summoned a knife, and tried to drive it into Cruelty's chest, only for her to punch Chara in the face, breaking her nose, and shoved her off, kicking her backwards, with Chara landing beside Harley.

Cruelty rose off the ground, gazing hatefully at the pair. "Yeah, this'll do." she summoned a silver sword, and held it out in front of her.

"Sorry, Fred." Harley muttered, and he yanked the scythe out of Freddy's leg, who screamed, managing to seal the wound before passing out in pain. Chara summoned her knives, and glanced at Harley, waiting for a signal.

"You're in for a treat." Cruelty grinned. "It's not everyday that you fight an Integrity Soul, corrupted by the trait of-"

Harley cut her off. "Let me stop you there." He said. "I don't give a fuck,  _die_." He and Chara charged her, their weapons glowing with the power of their Determination.

* * *

Sans stepped backwards, collapsing into his chair from exhaustion.

He hated treating human injuries.

Just when he thought Emilia was stable, her HP began to drop, and machines all over the room began to beep like crazy, causing him to have to run all over the tplace, trying to figure out what was wrong.

And out of fucking  _nowhere_ , it suddenly stopped, and her vitals returned to normal, with her HP no longer dropping.

Which pissed him the hell off.

" _you know, for the most dangerous creatures on the planet."_ Sans thought, as he spun in his chair to face the monitors behind him. " _humans sure are delicate."_

He tapped the keyboard, and the screens sprung to life, with cameras that he had placed all over City Ebott showing their feeds live. However, he didn't even give them a glance. He needed to figure something out, and he knew looking at the screens would distract him.

Instead, he activated the True Lab Cams.

"computer, show me the camera footage from the last time someone was in the lab." Sans commanded. It took a few moments, but the camera footage sprung to life.

It showed the very person he had expected. Frisk.

Frisk had broken into the True Lab, and made a mess as she tried to remember where the Soul Containers were.

" _why do you need those, frisk?"_ Sans asked himself. " _you know that humans can't absorb each other's souls, so why?"_ He grumbled, and rose to his feet. " _things are fucked enough as is. why did you have to make it worse, kid?"_ Sans glanced at Emilia, and the back at the footage of Frisk taking the containers, having a silent argument with himself. Eventually, he threw his hands in the air. " ︎F◆︎U ︎C?K ⧫︎T ︎H ︎A⧫︎T ⬧︎S ︎H ︎I⧫︎T? ﾸﾎ." He swore, and walked over to Emilia once again. "you better have a good fuckin' reason, kid."

* * *

Undyne slid backwards, slamming her spear into the ground and skidding to a halt.

Rage rose to his feet, and as the force of the blast that their last, powerful attack was still being felt by the two of them, he held back from attacking again, as Undyne did the same.

"I don't understand, monster." Rage called out, gazing at Undyne. "I was always under the impression that monsters couldn't handle Determination well, and yet, you are harnessing levels of DT that rival even mine. So how do you do it?"

Undyne remained silent, and began to pace in a circle. Rage did the same, copying her stride for stride, refusing to let her get an angle on him.

"You said you fight for everyone's Hopes and Dreams, and yet you seem to be blinded to the fact that it's not just me who hates monsters. There are - or were - seven leaders of the NHDS, with me at the top. And we have an army, one that, mind you, is growing in size. We are a force of nature, the undeniable tsunami that has followed the earthquake that was the arrival of your kind. We cannot be stopped, and we have come to-"

"Will you just  _shut up_?" Undyne snapped, cutting off Rage mid-sentence. "You boast of power, and yet one of your men were killed by a group of teenagers. Your army is slaughtered by the dozens every time you attack, and you, their  _leader,_ can't even surpass me!"

Rage shrugged. "Sure, my troops die, but at what cost to you? Like I said, my numbers increase every day, and humanity greatly outnumbers your kind. Sooner or later, you will all either be forced back Underground, or slaughtered. I don't care either way."

"We have humans fighting beside us!"

"They are traitors to humanity. They die too."

"You would kill your own kind?"

"I'm doing it already. Or did you think that I'm not aware of the casualties that this war has caused already?"

Undyne growled again. "And to think that you call me the monster."

Rage laughed. "I'm not a monster, Undyne." He said, surprising her with the use of her name. "The real monster lies below, not giving a damn about who dies, human or monster." He chuckled. "No, I am simply doing what is required to protect my own species. Your battle is hopeless, for you've already lost."

"It's never hopeless." Undyne growled. "Hope shall always remain, and as long as I have something to fight for, I will keep on going. I am too Determined to quit, and for those who cannot," Undyne directed her spear at Rage, summoning hundreds of spears. "I shall  _fight!"_

The volley rocketed forwards, and Rage snarled, summoning an energy wall and placing it in front of him, blocking the volley, only to be caught unawares as several slammed into his back, causing him to grunt in pain, ripping them free.

He threw one at Undyne, who leaped at him, catching it mid-air, somersaulting and throwing it back. Rage jumped to the side, as it smashed through the ground and down to the floor below. He upholstered his gun, and began to fire at Undyne, every shot blowing holes where they struck, with one being deflected by Undyne, who sent it flying into the roof above.

Once he ran out of bullets, he dropped the weapon, and summoned another sword, charging Undyne. She deflected his initial attack, and sent him smashing into the ceiling above. He fell to the floor, and growled, his eyes glowing with power. He shot forwards once more, slamming his constructs into Undyne, who blocked them with her spear. He spun, and roundhouse kicked her, his energy-charged foot striking her side. Undyne flew into the wall, and Rage followed her, grabbing her by the breastplate, lifting her overhead, and slamming her into the ground. He began to punch her over and over, channeling his energy into his hands as he struck her, not noticing as the explosive force from his punches caused the floor underneath them to crack, until it shattered, and they fell to the floor below.

* * *

Harley leapt back, dodging a swipe from Cruelty's blade, as Chara fired a volley a knives at her side. She jumped up, but several impaled her leg, knocking her off balance and onto the floor.

"You sit around, griping about not having a challenge." Harley snarled. "And yet, you do not present one yourself!"

He leaped forwards again, and Cruelty met his attack head on.

Meanwhile, Papyrus crawled his way over to Freddy and Frisk, and began to heal Frisk.

"COME ON, CHILD. YOU NEED TO FIGHT BESIDE YOUR FAMILY." His hand began to glow, as he reached out for the lasts reserves of strength he could use without killing himself, and he watched as Frisk began to stir.

"HUMAN, YOUR FAMILY NEEDS… YOU." Papyrus murmured, and Frisk opened one of her blue eyes.

"Papyrus, stop." She told the skeleton, and shakily rose. "You've done enough, I can handle it from here." Her skin glowed red, and her HP returned to max, as her ribs and arm repaired themselves, the  _snaps_ of the bones clicking into place causing Papyrus to cringe. Frisk summoned her energy blade, and prepared to jump back out, when she could hear multiple explosions sounding from above, until another section of the roof fell inwards, alongside two figures. A man in all black stood up, only to be kicked to his knees, and up rose Undyne the Undying, seizing him by the throat and throwing him across the room. She growled when she saw Harley and Chara fighting Cruelty, and charged in, slamming the butt of her spear into the side of her head. Cruelty fell, and Harley prepared to deal the finishing blow, only to hear a roar of anger, a clap of thunder, and a blast of concentrated magic so intense it knocked all of the back into the far wall, the pressure digging them into it.

After the magic faded, they all fell to their knees, and Frisk gazed out at the enemy. Cruelty was back on her feet, her flesh burned, with various wounds covering her body. She had a snarl on her face, but the look in her silver eyes was of mixed anger and fear.

" _Good."_ Frisk thought, " _She realizes that were aren't someone to fuck with."_

As she heard her companions rising off the ground, Frisk gazed over at the man in black. His clothes and jacket were filled with cuts and holes, but the thing that drew her gaze was his eyes.

She recognized that trait. She's had its power directed at her.

" _Rage."_ she thought. " _Of course. He's the leader."_

"There you are, Harley!" Rage's voice filled the room. "I see you weren't simply fleeing from our fight, you were coming to assist your simple friends from being slaughtered by Cruelty here. And, speaking of which," Rage glanced at his subordinate, his lips curling into a sneer. "Why aren't they dead?"

"They were about to be. Then  _they_  showed up." She pointed at Chara and Harley.

"And?"

"What do you mean ' _and_ ' _,_ Rage?" Cruelty snapped. "You told us that you were going to handle the boy, and yet here he stands!"

Rage shook his head. "That is not your concern. I ordered you to kill everyone that came through here. You failed." Cruelty gritted her teeth. "You have one last chance. You and I will fight here, and if even one of them gets away, I will make you wish you had died. Understand?"

Cruelty nodded, and the two of them shot forwards. Undyne leaped at Cruelty, slamming into her with such force that the two of them flew and smashed through the walls behind them, while Harley, Frisk, and Chara attacked Rage.

Rage swung out a blade, throwing it a Frisk, who dodged to the side as Harley fired his gun at him. Rage avoid the shot, and Chara leapt at him, knives swinging, only for Rage to catch her mid-air and slam her into the ground. Rage summoned a wall of energy, blocking Harley's bullets, and slammed his foot into Chara's throat, a loud  _crack_ echoing out as her neck broke.

"No!" Frisk screamed, slamming into Rage's side. He laughed, and rolled the two of them over until he was on top of her. He punched her on the side of her head, knocking Frisk out cold as he spun around to deflect an attack from Harley.

"There go your sisters, Harley." Rage chuckled, "And you and I did this dance already. Are you prepared to lose  _again,_ kid?"

Rage pushed Harley onto the floor, preparing to impale him on his sword, only for a loud  _bang_  to ring out, followed by a bullet ripping right through Rage's chest, puncturing his right lung. He stumbled back, his hand over the wound, and Harley rose off the ground, his eyes flaring with his own rage.

"Not this time, motherfucker." Harley growled. "It's time you learned…  _Don't piss off the child who's eyes match the blood red sky."_

Rage gritted his teeth, and he drew his sword, only to be sent soaring back as Harley tackled him. The blade vanished, and the two of them hit the ground, with Harley punching him over and over, the force of the energy channeling through his fist causing the ground beneath them to crack. Rage lifted his arms, blocking a few strikes before reaching out and grabbing Harley's chest, pushing him off and into the air. Harley landed on his feet, and Rage rose off the ground.

"Look, I admire you kid. You refuse to die. But while your Determination and buried Rage may help you defeat my troops and lieutenants, those  _very same abilities_ are why I am the leader of the NHDS. And I am much, much stronger than you." Rage walked over to Frisk, and summoned a sword. "You can fight as much as you want. You  _cannot_ beat me alone." He plunged his weapon downwards, impaling Frisk in her stomach.

Harley roared out in anger, and ran forwards, only for Rage to shoot him in the knee, causing him to trip and fall. Rage shook his head, walking over to Chara. "You have failed, Harley." He slammed his sword down, aiming to stab Chara, only for his weapon to shatter as it hit a black shield.

Chara rose, black ooze dripping out of her eyes and mouth.

"Oh…" Harley chuckled, rising to his feet. "What did you say about me fighting alone?"

Chara punched Rage, and he soared back, flipping and landing on his feet. " _ **You shouldn't have done that, Rage.**_ "

Harley grinned darkly, his eyes changing to the Dark Red of Rage. "I'm not alone anymore." He shouted, throwing a ball of energy at Rage as he leaped forwards, with Chara sprinting towards him.

Rage grinned. "Heh. This will be fun."


	38. A Feeling of Betrayal

" _This is awesome, Chara!" Frisk cried out as they left the burning husk of Undyne's house behind. "I can't believe we actually became friends with Undyne!"_

_Chara chuckled, and gazed at the ten year old. "You know, Frisk, you really are something special, aren't you?"_

_Frisk grinned happily. "Aww, yay! That's so nice of you!"_

_Chara shrugged, her ghostly shoulders shimmering as they moved. "It's true, my friend. Who else could have managed to befriend Undyne, when she so vehemently hates humans?"_

" _What does ve-hem-en-ty mean?" Frisk asked, trying to sound out the word._

_Chara rolled her eyes and sighed. "After this is all over, I'm sitting you down with a dictionary." Chara held up one finger, and closed her eyes. "'Vehemently._ _in a forceful, passionate, or intense manner; or with great feeling."_

" _Oh." Frisk was quiet for a moment, then grinned up a Chara again. "What does pa-ss-in-ate mean?"_

_Chara facepalm herself with a groan. "And I'm going to teach you how to talk properly."_

" _Hey!" Frisk cried out, indignant. "I can talk!"_

_Chara patted Frisk's cheek. "Sure you can, sweetie. Come on, let's go."_

" _Chara?" Frisk said. "Can we stay together forever? Be happy like this, forever?"_

_Chara's smile became forced. "Frisk…" She began to say hesitantly, but as she gazed down at Frisk's hopeful smile, she knew she couldn't crush the poor child's dreams. Besides, things were different this time around. Maybe, with a little bit of hope, they could stay happy._

_Chara nodded. "Yes, we can. I will always be at your side, Frisk."_

" _Yay!" Frisk cried out, and she began to march back in the direction of Hotland. "Come on, best friend! We have more friends to make!"_

" _Best friend…" Chara thought, and smiled. "I can live with that."_

* * *

Frisk opened her eyes.

There was a searing pain in her stomach, and her ears were ringing.

She groaned in pain as she sat up, calling out to the power of her Determination to close up any of the wounds that had been dealt to her in the last bout with Rage.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to get them to focus, and she could see Undyne in the distance, fighting Cruelty. She watched as the Corrupt Silver Soul was stabbed through the back, and fell to her knees.

Frisk struggled to her feet as Determination continued to flow through her, returning portions of her strength. Soon, the ringing faded, and she could hear the sounds of combat all around her, with the explosions in the distance growing stronger as the siege on the school continued.

She turned around, summoning a sword construct, and she gazed through another hole, seeing Harley and Chara fighting Rage in the school courtyard.

She began to stride forwards, heading over to her siblings, when she heard a loud cracking noise. Frisk spun, and her eyes widened in horror as she saw that it had come from both of the remaining walls. It seemed that with two sections of the room's walls seriously damaged, the remaining two were at risk immediate collapse.

" _That means the entire section of the school is in danger of collapsing inwards!"_ Frisk realized, and she ran over to Freddy and Papyrus.

"Guys!" She shouted, her voice cracking in desperation. "Get up! We need to leave,  _now_!"

She shook Freddy awake, and he groaned. She lifted him off the ground. "Papyrus!" She kicked the skeleton. "Get up!"

Papyrus's eyes opened. "H-HUMAN?"

"Get up! We got to go!"

Papyrus struggled to his feet, and began to limp out of the room. Frisk began to follow, when she spotted Chara's bag, the one with the Soul Containers. She quickly opened it up, and gazed in, seeing that Chara had collected every soul except a Kindness one.

" _I'll deal with that in a moment. Firstly, Freddy._ " Frisk closed the bag, and swung it over her shoulder, and slowly helped Freddy out of the room.

* * *

Rage snarled jumped back, trying to find a moment to catch his breath, but Chara and Harley would not relent. They pushed forwards recklessly, and attacked him without any hesitation.

Harley glanced at Chara, and she nodded. Because of all the experience they had from their Genocide timeline, they didn't even need to speak to know what the other was going to do. They moved like a machine, matching each other in speed and ferocity as they continuously engaged Rage, over and over. Harley sprung forwards, and Chara jumped into the air. With the sun at her back, and Harley attacking Rage on the ground, she had the time she needed to summon a volley of knives beyond any she had ever done before. With a shout to let Harley know it was time, she swung her arm down, pointing at Rage, and the blades rained down on him. He summoned a barrier to protect himself, but the black blades of Hatred chipped away at it, until it shattered, leaving Rage's roars of pain to fill the air as the remaining blades struck him over and over, the hundreds of knives tearing into his flesh.

Chara landed on the ground, and watched as the last of her attack ended. Her and Harley exchanged looks, and she summoned more blades into her hands, and the two of the advanced towards the indent in the ground that her attack had created.

Rage stood there, a pool of blood at his feet. He glared up at them, his dark red eyes meeting the black pits of Chara's, then the equally dark red of Harley's.

"You two are a fucking  _nuisance._ " He growled, and his skin began to glow. Not wanting to let him heal, Chara and Harley charged at Rage, but he swiped his hand ast them, a blast of energy knocking Chara and Harley away from him. "You two are more trouble than I  _ever_  could've imagined, that I will admit. You guys, and Undyne. But that matters little. I can, and  _will_ ,-"

A loud  _crack_ echoed throughout the courtyard, and the three of them gazed over at the source, watching as an entire section of the building, the one that they had smashed through to get out here, was beginning to shudder. Cracks were deepening, and large pieces of the walls were falling off.

Chara charged forwards, and caught Rage completely off guard. She kicked him, her DT-charged foot sending him into the building, right through the wall that was fighting to support the floors above it. Without that wall, the floors above caved inwards, the rubble raining down on Rage, whose shouts quickly faded out of existence.

Chara, feeling her Hatred fading as the man who had harmed so many of them was defeated, fell to the ground, feeling drained. The corruption in her eyes faded, and they returned back to her regular chocolate brown ones. She gazed up at Harley, and was shocked to she that his remained the burning dark red that they had been.

"Harley, it's over." Chara told him. "He's beaten."  
Harley shook his head, his eyes flaring up. "He is only beaten. He will escape, then return. And the rest of the NHDS is still here." Harley turned. "Rest. I will return." Harley walked off, and Chara sighed, watching until he turned the corner. When he had left, she ejected her soul. Unlike the last time she was corrupted, the black wasn't eating at her heart. The Hatred wasn't controlling her, she was controlling it.

" _That's… a relief. That means I should stay in control of myself, despite my LV being…'_ She checked her LV, and felt her heart drop.

**LV** \- 11.

" _That means that I am the one responsible for everyone who died in that collapse._ " Chara recalled her soul, and put her head in her hands. " _How many more will be slain by my hands, before we can finally have peace?"_

* * *

Undyne flew back, right past Harley's face.

Cruelty shot after her, but Harley snatched her out of the air, and slammed Cruelty into the pavement. The look of anger on her face changed into fear as he lifted his free hand, charging it with energy.

"No, wait, d-!" her cry was cut off as Harley slammed his hand into her, and tore her heart out her chest. Gargling on blood, she gazed in shock as Harley squeezed his fist closed, crushing her heart in his hand. Cruelty choked as she tried to speak, and Harley knelt over her.

"What'd I say before?" He whispered. "I don't give a fuck,  _die._ " He punched her in the throat, shattering her windpipe. Blood bubbled out of Cruelty's mouth, and Harley coldy watched as lights faded out of her silver eyes, and her Soul floated out of her body. And a few moments later, it cracked and shattered.

Harley stood, and walked away towards the last sounds of combat. He turned a corner again, and saw the last group of NHDS was surrounded by monsters and humans, both of his army and the students of the school. He could see Toriel in the crowd, her hands ablaze, with tears in her eyes as she burnt the men and women who were threatening her students to a crisp.

_-Toriel gazed at him coldly as she burnt his soul and body to a crisp-_

Growling, Harley shook away the memory as he jumped onto some rubble, so he could be seen above the crowd. "Stop!" He shouted, his voice echoing around the courtyard. Harley's troops stepped back, keeping their guards up but not attacking. The NHDS regrouped, and nervously waited.

There was the clinking of armor as Undyne, still in her Undying form, ran over to Harley, and stood at his right side. Then there was a small  _pop_  as Sans appeared.

"Emilia?" Is all Harley said to him.

"stable."

Harley nodded, and the three of them walked forward, the crowd making space for them as they walked.

Soon, they stood in front of the NHDS. Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster, a loud whine filling the air as it charged, and Undyne slammed the point of her spear into the ground as she scowled.

_-Sans, floating in the air, bones spinning around him as cannons floated on either side-_

Harley gazed out at the remaining NHDS, the Rage still burning in his eyes. A look of disgust crossing his face as he took one step forwards, summoning a sword. "Surrender or die." He snapped.

One of the NHDS charged at Harley, only to scream in agony as he was vaporized by Sans's blaster.

"anybody else?" Sans asked, charging his blaster once more.

The rest of the NHDS glanced at each other, and most reached a silent agreement. "We fight to the end!" One woman shouted.

Harley shrugged. "If she doesn't speak for you, please accompany Undyne out of the circle."

About six people, their heads bowed in shame, followed her.

"You know your all just going to die here, right?" Harley asked.

The members of the NHDS gritted their teeth. "Charge!" One of them shouted. They had barely moved five steps when Harley summoned a large energy bubble, separating the NHDS from the other humans and monsters.

"Mother, please cover any child's eyes." Harley said curtly. "As the Prince of Monsters, and the leader of this army, I hereby sentence you all to death." He sighed, and began to open the bubble to allow himself to enter, but Sans held out his hand.

"my lord, as your judge. i believe that this is my responsibility." Sans said.

"Sans, your soul shouldn't -"

"im not going to be corrupted. dont worry." Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster inside the bubble, and charged it up. "you have all been found…  _guilty_." Sans closed his fist, and the cannon fired one large, continuous blast that filled the entire bubble. And when it stopped, nothing remained except ash.

Harley shook his head, and walked away, with the crowd of both humans and monsters following him.

He turned the corner, and saw Frisk and Chara leaning over a body beside the building. On the other side of the courtyard, Papyrus was sitting on the ground, with Freddy propped up next him.

"paps!" Sans shouted, and he and Undyne ran over to Papyrus.

Seeing Harley, Frisk quickly stuffed something into Chara's bag, and walked over to him. The two of them hugged, and Frisk held onto his hands when she pulled back, gazing into his eyes.

"Harley, you're okay!" She cried out in relief. "I thought you had been crushed under the building!"

Harley smiled, the Rage burning within him lessing slightly, now that he knew Frisk was okay. "I'm glad you didn't get squished either. How's the stomach?"

Frisk pointed at the hole in her shirt. "It was really bad when I woke. I was able to repair the internal damage and most of the external, but not enough so this one is going scar."

Harley's eyes flickered as he frowned, and he turned to face the crowd behind him.

"Today is a victory for us!" Harley shouted. "Today, we slew another lieutenant of the NHDS!"

"Two." Frisk whispered. "Karla, the Vengeance one. Chara killed her."

"We showed that we shall not surrender! That even their strongest fighters cannot stop us!"

"But that does not mean we did not suffer losses! Most of us here will know people that died, defending what they believed in! Worse yet, we will know that some people who died here couldn't defend themselves!"  
"This is why we must  _fight_!" Harley shouted. "This is why we must defend what we believe in! Our homes, our schools, our loved ones, they are all  _threatened_  by these terrorists!" Harley's eyes glowed with power. "And today we said  _no_! We said that they cannot threaten us! They cannot imprison us! We may fall, but we shall  _never_ lose! Believe in the hope for a better day, my friends. Believe in a brighter future! I know that, with a fighting force as powerful as all of you, our dream of a better day shall come  _true_!"

The crowd began to cheer, and Harley walked over to Sans, where Undyne, who was holding Freddy in her arms, Chara, Papyrus, and Frisk were waiting for him. He grabbed onto Sans's shoulder, and gazed back at the crowd. "Return to your homes! I will summon you when I need you!"

With a  _pop_ , they vanished.

* * *

They returned to Toriel's home.

Harley let go of Sans, who pulled him down to his level. Sans muttered something into Harley's ear, who nodded. Harley walked towards the house, beckoning Chara over, and the two of them heading inside, followed by Undyne and Papyrus. Sans grabbed Frisk by the wrist, and held her there.

Harley and Chara stopped in the living room, while Undyne and Papyrus walked upstairs to the guest bedroom.

"What's up, Harley?"

"I know you were outside my door last night." Chara gazed at Harley, who continued. "You kind of told me, Chara. I know you didn't like Emilia in my room, and you hated the idea of me trusting her more than I trusted you. But instead of talking to me, you took it out on her."

Chara gazed down at the ground. "Harley, you know that I'm-"

Harley cut her off. "Emilia is stable." Chara's head snapped up, gazing at Harley in evident confusion. "Sans took her to the True Lab, and reconnected her spinal cord. He claims that someone help guide his hands in the surgery."

"Gaster?"

"Probably." Harley gazed at Chara, and the Rage in his eyes lessened to the point that it was basically gone. "Look, Chara. We can't become who we were. We cannot allow these negative traits to dictate who we are."

Chara nodded. "I know, Harley. But… look." Chara ejected her soul, and pointed at her LV. "All of those people who died when the building collapsed… I killed them, Harley. And my soul suffers for it."

Harley ejected his soul, and pointed at his LV.

**LV** \- 15.

Chara gaped at it in shock. "How in the holy fuck?"

Harley held up three fingers. "First, remember that LV measure our potential to hurt and kill. Sure, you killed a bunch of people, but it was an accident, and your remorse is eating away at you."

"What did you do, Harley?" Chara asked, stepping forwards. "How did you jump so high in LV?"

He gazed down at her. "I had Sans execute the soldiers in the NHDS that refused to surrender. As he was simply obeying the command of his Sovereign as the Judge, the responsibility is mine. And… I tore apart Cruelty. I ripped her heart out, and crushed her windpipe."

Chara glanced at Harley's Soul, and saw that bits of it were beginning to turn darker.

"Harley, you keep warning me to not be controlled by my Hatred… are you really just saying that to remind yourself?"  
He nodded. "Yeah… It's tough, Chara. I'm trying really hard to remain calm, I promise, but… it's hard."

"I know, Harley. I know." She shook her head, "You just need to remember that you are fighting for those you love, and we need you to stay… you."

"Those I love…" Harley muttered absentmindedly. "Yeah… Chara, I-"

There was a loud  _thump_ upstairs, and Harley broke off, gazing upwards.

"What were you saying? Chara asked.

"I'll tell you later." He replied, summoning a sword. "Come on!"

* * *

Frisk turned to follow Harley and the others into the house, but she felt a bony hand close around her wrist, stopping her.

"frisk, we need to talk." Sans told her.

Frisk raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Sans?"

"first off, you were there when emilia was injured, right?"

"Yeah. Chara was out of control."

"...did chara attack emilia out of nowhere?"

Frisk frowned. "...No. Sans, Chara wouldn't do that." Sans snorted, and Frisk rolled her eyes. "Look, I know you don't trust Chara. Or me, for that matter. But Chara isn't the person she was in those timelines. She never was."

Sans waved a hand impatiently. "i know all about the corruption thing, but that's not my issue. Chara was in the Void when all of that happened, and for some reason, the…  _thing_ , she became, followed her out here."

"What, the…" Frisk patomined liquid dripping from her eyes. "Thing?"

"what, have you not noticed the members of the nhds corrupted by hatred?" Sans asked. "none of them turn into a demon, only chara does. it has to be that something attached to her soul when she was corrupted, because now it is a part of her."

Frisk snorted, rolling her eyes. "Nothing attached itself to her, her Soul is probably irreparably tainted. Or maybe you have to hit LV 20 to achieve that form, and Chara just happens to still have it because of the Void."

"hmm, i didn't think of that." Sans mused, scratching his head. "well, we will find out when we meet the member of the nhds at lv 20 who uses hatred."

"That we will." Frisk agreed. "Is that all?"

"no." Sans glanced around, then grabbed onto Frisk's wrist again, the two of them falling backwards into a shortcut. They appeared in Frisk's room, and he released her, backing a few steps away.

"Y'know, Chara could've been in here changing." Frisk noted.

"she wasn't. she's still talkin' with harley downstairs."

Frisk crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want, Sans?"

"straight to the point, eh?" Sans asked, and he took a deep breath.

"where are the soul containers, frisk?"

"...Cameras in the True Lab. I'd forgotten about those."

"why'd you take them? you know fully well that humans can't absorb each others souls."

She rolled her eyes again. "Obviously. I want to rescue someone."

"who?"

"That's none of your concern. " Frisk replied.

"the only person i can think of is gaster."

"Gaster? Heh, sorry, no."

Sans shrugged. "whatever. you are right, it doesn't matter. you can't do it without a determination soul, and you wouldn't…" His eyes darkened. "no... you would." Sans backed away, trying to get to the door. "and let me guess… chara is in on this?"

"It was her idea." Frisk replied softly, advancing on Sans. "and you aren't going to stop us."

"this is insane, frisk. you guys run the risk of killing harley!"

"If he dies, I'll kill Chara."

Sans scowled, his hands balling into fists. "that's not the point." his back bumped against the door, and he grabbed the handle. He opened it, and made to run out, but Frisk grabbed him by the sweater, and threw him into the wall. He struck it, and fell to the floor unconscious. Frisk ran over to Sans, and rolled him over, forcing a monster candy down his throat, trying to make sure he didn't die.

"Frisk!"

Frisk spun, drawing a sword. Harley was at the door, with Chara standing behind him.

Harley hesitated.

_-Standing in the Void, swinging his sword like a bat and decapitating Frisk-_

Frisk sent a ball of energy at Harley, knocking him and Chara backwards, then pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and threw it at them.

She knelt, and slammed her fist into the ground, falling to the floor below, and ran to the living room. She spotted Chara's bag, snatched it up, and ran.

Back upstairs, Harley leapt to his feet, and spotted Undyne running down the hall to him.

"Harley, what-"

"Heal Sans!" He snapped, pointing into Frisk's room.

She obeyed, running in and checking Sans's HP. "He's fine! Just unconscious."

Chara stood, and Harley spotted the paper that Frisk had thrown at him. Picking it up, he unfolded it and read what it said.

"Meet me in the True Lab. I'll explain everything there." Harley read aloud. Undyne walked over, holding Sans in her arms.

"Is that from Frisk?" Undyne asked, and Chara nodded. "Alright. You two go after her. I'll hold down the fort here, and keep an eye over Sans and Freddy.

"Alright. Thanks Undyne." Harley replied. "Come, Chara." The two of them jumped down into the floor below, and headed after Frisk.

* * *

They arrived in the True Lab.

"There's no sign of Frisk." Harley noted. "I hope she isn't planning on attacking us, i'd hate to have to fight her again."

"Yeah." Chara replied nervously.

Harley glanced down at Chara. "Don't worry." He reassured her. "The two of us are more than capable to take care of Frisk if needed."

"Yeah, I know." Chara replied. "I… I just don't like being back here."

He let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah, neither do I. Let's go."

The two them strode out to explore.

When they entered the room full of the beds, Chara froze.

" _It… is."_

_Harley had opened his eyes, his deep red eyes shining with happiness as he gazed down at Chara._

" _Hey… Sleepyhead." He poked her in the ribcage. "Get up."_

_Chara yawned, and rolled over. "Did it work?"_

" _See for yourself."_

_She sat up, and gazed around the room._

" _Mom? Dad?"_

" _Oh, my dear child!" Toriel couldn't take it anymore. She rushed over, knocking Undyne aside, and she gave Chara the fiercest hug. "Oh, I can't believe you are alive!"_

_Asgore gazed at Harley, the happiness radiating off of him. "Thank you so much, Harley. And you, Frisk. The two of you saved all of monsterkind, and then you saved my_   _daughter. If there is anything you need, just say the word."_

"Chara?"  
Chara snapped back to reality, and glanced over at Harley. "...Sorry. Was just… Remembering."

"Yeah, I know." He replied softly. He grabbed her hand, and led her over to the room with the DT extractor.

"It was here." He said softly. "This is where we brought you back, Chara."

"We?"

"Yeah. Sans and Alphys helped me out."

"...but  _you_ risked your life, Harley. You are the one who entered into the Void, just to pull me out."

"What was I to do, leave you there?" Harley chuckled. "No… You lost your life trying to Save monsterkind, Chara, and if wasn't for you, I wouldn't have succeeded either."

"That's not true." Chara laughed. "With or without me, you would've done it. You couldn't give up, not if it means leaving the ones you love."

"Yeah… That's why I couldn't leave you there." Harley turned away from Chara, and stepped towards the DT Extractor. "You remember when we met, Chara?"

"What, after the Froggit slaughter?"

"Yeah. The first time I saw your eyes. Blazing red, full of Determination… and you stood beside me, and fought."

"Well, I didn't exactly do it out of the goodness of my heart, Harley."

"You still proved yourself to be a strong individual, something that became even clearer to me when I found out what had happened to you."

"Yeah, then I proceeded to brutalize you in the next timeline." Chara said bitterly. "I hurt the one person fighting for me, over and over again."

Harley spun around, and strode over to Chara.

_-Chara slamming her fists-_

"No." Harley said aloud, mentally forcing the memory aside. "I want you to understand something. I do  _not_  care about that. I care about what you did after I saved you. I care about the kind, caring woman that you have shown to be. I care that when I was out of control,  _you_ stopped me from doing something I would've regretted. I care that when I was beaten, when I almost gave up,  _you_ convinced me to get up and keep fighting.  _You_ are my constant inspiration every single day, Chara, because you have been through hell, and have lost everything, and yet, here you stand, fighting to defend those who cannot."

"We fought through Sans. We beat Omega Flowey and Asriel. And we fight the NHDS, but they are just the latest of a line of jackasses that have wanted us dead. And I refuse to give up… Because…"

"I see a future. I see a future, where we are happy, where our Hopes and Dreams have finally come to realization. One where we live in peace, monster and humans side by side. Mother happily teaches in her school, Alphys had discovered cold fusion and we now live off of self-sustained energy. Frisk has settled down, and you and I travel the world together, seeing new sights as we help people. Happy, and together."

"What are you saying, Harley?

Harley took a deep breath, and took a step forwards, so that he and Chara were chest to chest.

_-Chara binding him to the ground, drawing a knife, preparing to-_

" _No."_ Harley thought, once more shoving the nightmare aside. " _No more. I don't resent her anymore."_

"Harley?" Chara whispered, and he could feel her trembling against him.

"You keep reminding me to fight for what I love, Chara, and I am. I am fighting for my family, for my friends. And I'm fighting… for you. For a future with you, Chara."

"What..?"

Harley smiled lightly, and wrapped his arms around Chara, pulling her against him. "Oh, Chara… I'm telling you that I love you." He leaned down, and kissed her, and after a moment of shock, Chara kissed him in return.

But there was no happiness, because she knew what she had to do. She knew why Frisk had them come here, and what she had to do. She needed to proceed with the plan, no matter what she felt. So, as tears began to slide down her face, she summoned a knife, and drove it into the back of the man she loved, right into his heart.

Harley went tense with shock, and stepped away from her, his eyes widening. He gazed at Chara, who threw another knife into his chest. Harley fell to his knees, feeling his HP dropping.

"Ch...chara… Why?" He choked out, gazing up as tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes.

Unable to take it anymore, Chara broke. She fell to her knees, the tears falling down her face uncontrollably. "I'm sorry!" She cried in anguish. "I'm so sorry Harley!" Her vision blurry, she saw as Harley began to tilt backwards, and she sprung up and ran forwards, catching him before he hit the ground.

He gazed up at her, blood beginning to leak out of the corner of his mouth. "I…" He coughed. "I… i love you… Chara."

"I love you too, Harley." Chara sobbed. "I love you too!"

She watched as his eyes began to dim and close, and saw his Soul float out of his body. It cracked, and shattered, but the pieces didn't disappear. Instead, they began to glow, and the shards reconnected. The soul then floated back into his body.

"Good." Chara glanced over at the door, and saw Frisk standing there, holding Flowey in a pot.

"Oh, he's  _soooo_ going to hate you after this!" Flowey laughed.

"Shut it, plant!' Frisk snapped. She walked over to the controls for the DT extractor, and tapped a few buttons.

"Uhh, do you know how to work that thing?" Flowey asked.

"Yes." Frisk responded curtly. "I paid Alphys a visit." The extractor opened. "Chara, put his body in the extractor." Chara continued to gaze down at Harley, and didn't move.

"Chara, this was your fucking idea, now get up!' Frisk snapped.

Chara slowly rose, and carried Harley to the DT Extractor, and placed him in as gently as possible.

"Catch!" Frisk shouted, and threw Flowey at Chara, who caught him, throwing him into the extractor. Frisk pulled out one Soul Case, which held a Soul container that was glowing six different colors, and threw it at Chara, too. She placed it in the extractor, and wiped her eyes, gazing questioningly at Frisk.

She shrugged. "Alphys." She tapped another button, and the machine closed.

"so, this is what you are doing?" Frisk spun, and saw Sans standing at the door, two Gaster Blasters already summoned. "back away from the console, kid."

"I haven't gone through so much, only to fail now!" Chara snapped, and launched a volley of knives at Sans, who leaped to the side, dodging the attack. Frisk slammed her hand down on the activation button, and ran to join the fray, only to be frozen in place.

"not this time, kid." Sans's voice sounded from behind her, and with a click of his fingers, three cannons fired, pouring energy into her body. She collapsed, unconscious.

Sans chuckled and began to turn, but felt an immense pain as a hand melted through his coat and grabbed onto his spine. He froze, not daring to move.

"You will  _not_  stop me, Sans." Chara hissed.

"Y-you will lose Harley." Sans choked out.

Chara bowed her head. "...I already have. Besides, you know that the process can't be stopped. So stay  _still_."

* * *

_Harley opened his eyes._

"The Void."  _he sighed._ "So that's why she stabbed me."

_Harley began to walk, striding down into the empty abyss that was the Void._

_However, unlike last time, he wasn't in a rush._

_He didn't particularly care if he died he. At least it would all be over then._

"I finally did it… I opened myself up, and got exactly what I should've expected."  _He chuckled._ "I guess that's it. I'm running out of people to trust."

_He continued to walk down into the abyss, and he could feel his strength slowly ebbing away._

" _Why are you here again?" He turned around, and saw the Demon in Pink. She sniffed the air, and grinned. "Oh… you smell… Darker. So are you a demon now too?"_

" _No, i'm a darker Soul Trait. The trait of Rage."_

" _Negative trait? Heh. You see, where I come from, traits like that would be forbidden and forgotten arts. I am the only Soul of Fear, and I was created to keep Monsters underground."_

_Harley shrugged indifferently, and sat on the floor."I'm actually the Prince of Monsters. If you were in my reality, I would be trying to kill you."_

_She grinned darkly. "You would fail."_

" _I don't really care. We don't live in the same universe anyways."_

_The creature eyed him, and sat down beside him. "You're dying, human."_

" _I know." He sighed. "I'm looking to die. What's your name?"_

" _Betty."_

" _Well, not that you would care, but I was betrayed by an ally, one that was dear to me."_

" _So you give up?" she snorted. "Look, get off your ass and move on." Betty rose. "I have seen you here before, so I expect that you are strong. Move."_

" _I…"_

" _Attachment is worthless. Use your strength, and fight."_

_He watched as she walked off, and struggled to rise._ "I do believe that I was given motivational words by a demon."  _he thought, and continued to walk._

_He could feel his HP dropping more, and he checked it._ **HP - 34.**

" _I don't know where Asriel is!" Harley shouted in frustration._

" _He's that way."_

_Harley spun, and took a step back. A man stood there, one that, other than his brown eyes, darker skin tone, and the scars on his face, looked like Harley._

" _Who… What?"_

" _You are standing in the only constant of this multiverse, and you are shocked to see yourself?"_

" _I was told by Gaster that I was the only Harley. That I was the reason that my world is so fucked up."_

_The man laughed, and shook his head. "He's both right and wrong. You are unique to this part of the multiverse, the one interconnected by the Void. I am here from a different interconnection, called the Attachment."_

" _What's the difference?" Harley asked._

_The man reached out his hand, and Harley grasped it and shook. As he did, he could feel his HP jump back to normal. "My name is Harley, but I go by Longinus. And I am the one who keeps an eye on the Attachment, like Gaster does in the Void. My section of the multiverse works differently. There is no HP, LV, Souls or EXP. Just humans fighting for their lives."_

" _There are no monsters?"_

_Longinus frowned, his brow furrowed. "There are, just… not like you are used to. Most of the time, the monster are exactly that - monsters. Creatures who will slay you without a thought. Creatures that will feed on your flesh and blood."_

" _So humans are the good race?"_

" _Ehhhhh, not really. It's the same as your world. Nothing is black and white, the 'bad guys' have doubts and the 'good guys' do things some would see as unforgivable."_

" _Oh." Harley sat quiet. "So monsters are the consistent same in the Void, but what about yours? And why are you here?"_

_Longinus pointed at Harley. "We are. You a Glitch in your world, because you aren't supposed to exist here. A Harley, not in a world connected by the Attachment? That's not supposed to happen. And yet, it did."_

" _As for why I am here, the Attachment is in trouble. There is a creature going around, messing with things that he shouldn't, and now my multiverse has been connected with the Void. My attachment is going to be destroyed, Harley, absorbed by yours. Some people will appear in your world, others in different places around the multiverse. And the rest… will die."_

" _What can I do?"_

_Longinus pointed out to the right. "Go that way. Go find Asriel. I can't pull you over to my world… Not yet. I will appear to you, in your world, when I need you. Now go." Longinus turned, and walked away._

_Harley shook his head. "_ It never ends."  _he thought. Harley walked the way Longinus had pointed, and saw a familiar door. The entrance to Chara's old Voidroom._

"Of course."  _He chuckled, and headed over to it, opening the door._

_Inside, Asriel sat on Chara's old bed._

" _Harley?!" He cried out in shock. "Why are you here?"_

" _Chara. She sent me here."_

" _By choice?" Harley shook his head grimly, and Asriel's eyes welled up with tears. "Why would she do that? She loves you!"_

" _And I loved her." He replied bitterly. "But that doesn't matter. I'm here to retrieve you." He held his hand out, and Asriel hesitated._

" _Harley, your mere existence is changing everything."_

" _I know."_

" _Harley, when Frisk and Chara saved everyone all those timelines ago, everyone lived happy. There was no war, no strife. There was… peace. You being here changed all of that."_

_Harley's hand shook, and tears welled in his eyes. "Asriel, please. Take my hand so we may leave."_

_Asriel reached out, and grabbed Harley's hand. Silently, the two of them walked out of the Voidroom, and headed to the glowing door that had appeared. Harley opened it, and the two of them stepped through._

* * *

Chara pushed the button to stop the machine.

"he's been there too long, chara." Sans said.

The doors to the DT Extractor opened, and the two of them gasped as Harley stepped out, carrying Asriel. He studied Chara and Sans, and glanced at Frisk on the floor, who was burned from Sans's attack. Harley walked over to Chara, and held out the sleeping Asriel. She released Sans, and took her younger brother from him as Sans walked to Harley holding out a bony hand.

Chara looked up from Asriel. "Harley-"

"Just... don't." Harley snapped, and grabbed onto Sans's hand. With a  _pop_ , the two of them vanished, leaving Chara alone with Frisk and Asriel.

Tears welled up in Chara's eyes as she sunk to the floor, crying into Asriel's sweater.


	39. The Final Attack

Frisk lead the way back home, as Chara carried the still unconscious Asriel in her arms.

They strode through the front door, and lay Asriel down on the couch. Chara sat down beside him, and put her head into her hands. Frisk walked upstairs, going to check on Freddy and Papyrus.

She headed over to the guest room, and walked through the door, knowing that this was where Undyne was keeping the injured.

"Hey, guys." She greeted the three of them.

Undyne rose, summoning a spear and standing in front of the others protectively. "What do you want, Frisk?" Undyne asked cautiously.

"Look, everything that happened - it'll make sense once Harley returns home. I'm just here to check on these two."

Undyne hesitated for a few moments, then nodded, stepping aside. "Okay. I'll take your word for it."

Frisk walked past Undyne and sat next to Freddy. "Hey." She smiled at him. "How are you doing?"

Freddy grinned weakly. "Much better. The injuries I received, man they hurt like hell."

Frisk smirked, letting out a soft giggle. "Naturally. Did you expect them to feel like butterfly kisses?"

"Oh, shut up. You know what I am trying to say."

"That you are in pain. I know." Her grin faded. "Freddy, I'm so sorry that you are going through all of this, just because you chose to-"

"Let me stop you there, Frisk. I chose.  _I chose this_. I could've walked away from city hall last week, but I chose to fight beside you. I decided that you were worth fighting for."

"...Do you regret it?"

Freddy smiled warmly. "Not for a moment, Frisk."

Papyrus coughed into his fist. "I HATE TO BREAK UP THE SWEET MOMENT, BUT HUMAN, WHY DID YOU ATTACK SANS?"

Freddy's smile faded. "Yeah… why, Frisk?"

"It will make sense soon, I promise." Frisk repeated. "He's okay, Papyrus. I made sure of that. He was just being a little too pushy, and I needed him to back off, but I immediately made sure that his HP wouldn't drop to zero."

Papyrus gazed at her, his expression unreadable. "OKAY… I'M GLAD THAT YOU MADE SURE HE WOULD BE ALRIGHT. I'D HATE TO LOSE SANS."

Frisk winced. "Yeah, I know you would. Don't worry, the days of Sans and I being at each other's throats are in the past."

"Frisk!" Chara's voice sounded through the floor. "Come down!"

"That's my cue." Frisk stood, and headed to the door. "I'll see you guys later, alright?"

"Don't be a stranger!" Freddy called out, and she chuckled, heading downstairs.

Chara was still sitting, but she now had her arm around Asriel's shoulders, for the little goat boy was now awake.

"C-chara?" Asriel murmured. "Chara?"

"It's me, Azzy." She whispered. "I'm here."

He shook his head, and opened his eyes. They were green, seemingly infused with the power of Kindness.

"I feel... strong."

"That would be the power of the Souls we used to Save you." Frisk told him.

"Souls… save… Harley."

"Yes. Harley saved you, Asriel."

"You two forced him to." Asriel stated, switching his gaze between Chara and Frisk. "You didn't ask, you stabbed him in the back and made him come get me."

"He wouldn't have, Asriel!" Chara exclaimed.

Asriel shook his head. "It would've been better that way. He said you guys betrayed him, and I don't think that this is going to go well for you."

Frisk crossed her arms. "We did what we had to. Harley will get over himself."

"And if he doesn't?"

Frisk laughed humorlessly. "Well, then if we're lucky, we will be too dead to care."

* * *

Harley and Sans appeared in a different part of the True Lab. Harley released Sans, and spun around, stumbling forwards as he lost his balance.

"careful, harley. you don't want to knock her off life support before she's ready."

Harley glanced around, and saw Sans pointing at a bed. Emilia was surrounded by machines, all reading positive.

"When will she wake?" Harley asked softly, walking over to Emilia.

"when shes ready, kid. gaster helped me with the spine, but the rest is up to her."

Harley nodded, and placed his hand on hers. "She's… warm." he noted, and jerked his hand back. "She twitched. Is that okay?"

Sans shrugged, and glanced at the screens. "i guess so. her vitals and hp are normal."

"You guess? Aren't you the doctor here?"

"look, you humans are deadly when fightin', but you are actually pretty fragile. i'm doin my best, kid."

Harley sighed, and slumped down to the floor, his back against Emilia's bed. "...I know you are, Sans. I'm sorry. I'm just so… done with everything right now."

Sans pulled up a chair, and sat across from Harley. "what happened, harley?"

"I took your advice, Sans." Harley replied quietly, staring at the floor. "I had a moment alone with Chara, and I told her how I felt. And she stabbed me." Harley looked up at Sans, his eyes glowing with Rage as tears streamed out of them. "I told her that I saw a future with her, and she put a knife in my back, Sans. Then she threw one into my chest. And then, she told me that she loved me!" Harley chuckled, his voice growing bitter as it rose into a shout. "Can you believe that? She loved me  _so much_ , that she tried to kill me to  _resurrect_   _her_   _brother_!"

Sans knelt in front of Harley, his expression unreadable.

"What, Sans? You going to tell me that this was inevitable? That there was no other-"

Sans hugged Harley, cutting off his words. He pulled back, and Harley could see tears beginning to well up in the corners of Sans's eyes. "i'm so sorry, kid. you have endured so much, and have fought so hard, only for the last spark of happiness that you had to be ripped away in an instant. you don't deserve this. you don't deserve any of this."

"It my fault, for existing." Harley muttered.

"kid, you've simply have been handed a bad -"

Harley cut him off. "No. I met someone in the Void." He quickly explained his interactions with Longinus to Sans.

Sans rubbed his head, deep in thought. "so this man claims that if it wasn't for you being here, none of this would be happening?"

"Yes. There wouldn't be a war."

"nor would there be peace, kid. frisk kept resetting us, over and over again."

"But none of you would know. Not even you."

"you don't get it, kid. and i don't think you ever will."

Harley shrugged. "I don't know what to do, Sans. Longinus said he needs my help, but-"

"go, kid."

Harley glanced at him, evidently confused.

"look, i would rather you stood, harley." Sans said slowly. "but what do you really have here? A sister and a love interest who seem incapable of not betraying you, parents who hate you, and a army of monsters that tried to kill you."

"Which was my faul-"

"you deserve  _better_ , kid. You've fought so hard to help us all, and yet you keep gettin hurt. i say you go. see what better chances you can get in this 'attachment.'"

Harley looked uncertain. "I don't know if I can just leave everything I know… I'll decide later. I'm not going anywhere until Rage is dead."

Sans nodded. "agreed. But what do you want to do?"

Harley stood, and glanced back at Emilia. "Bring me to Mother's. I need to have a discussion with the others on what to do next."

"even with…"

"Yes. Even them. I'm sure that they have an 'explanation,' of their own."

* * *

With a pop, Sans and Harley appeared in Toriel's living room, causing Frisk, Chara, and Asriel to jump.

"Harley!" Chara cried out. "I-"

Harley held up his hand. "Later." He told her. She tried to continue, but he gazed down at her, one eyebrow raised. "I said, later. There is something that needs to be discussed."

She hesitated, then nodded.

"Go get Undyne, Freddy, and Papyrus." Harley told Frisk. "Tell them to meet me out back."

She nodded quietly, and walked upstairs. Harley held his hand out to Asriel, and glanced back at Sans and Chara. Asriel grasped Harley's hand, and the four of them walked outside, into the backyard.

Harley gestured for Sans and Chara to be seated, and he and Asriel walked over to the center of the grass.

"Wait-!" Chara started to say, only for Sans to pull her back.

"wasn't the reason you guys brought him back to fight?" Chara nodded. "then let harley test him."

She glanced over nervously, but nodded.

Frisk and the others arrived.

"WHAT'S HARLEY DOING WITH THAT CHILD?"

"Wait, is that… Asriel?" Undyne asked, sounding shocked.

Frisk sat next Chara. "Time to find out if betraying Harley was worth it." She muttered in Chara's ear.

Asriel glanced back and forth, then stared directly at Harley, holding his hands out in front of him. "Look, I know you're angry, but I didn't choose to be brought back."

Harley shook his head. "I know. This is merely a test."

Asriel shrugged, and began to channel his power throughout his body. He gasped as he began to grow, not quite the same size as his God of Hyperdeath form, but close. The black markings under his eyes appeared, and his eyes themselves changed - his pupils were white, while the rest of his eyes turned black.

Asriel summoned his Chaos Sabers, both of which glimmered with rainbow energy. Across from him, Harley's eyes glowed red, and he summoned a shield in one hand, and a sword in the other.

_-Asriel slammed his fist into Harley's chest, tearing through it and throwing him-_

" _Time to see if he was worth it_." Harley thought, trying to ignore the vision.

With a shout, Harley shot forwards, and swung out at Asriel, who caught Harley's blade between both of his in an X. Harley stepped out, slamming his foot into Asriel's, causing the goat to grunt in pain. Asriel shoved back, breaking the sword lock, only for a bolt of lightning to come down and strike Harley, who cried out in agony as the electricity ran through his body.

Asriel summoned his Chaos Blaster, and aimed it at Harley, charging its energy. He fired, only for Harley to leap up before the point of impact. Asriel tried to follow him with the beam, but was blindsided when Harley, who had the sun to his back, threw his shield at Asriel. The energy construct struck him on his forehead, and he stumbled backwards as a ball of red energy followed the shield, catching him in the chest. Asriel was knocked onto his ass, and Harley threw his blade at his chest.

Only for Asriel to slam his hands together, catching it by the blade a moment before impact.

He tossed it to the ground, laughing.

"Wow, you are really quick, Harley!" He shouted. "But let's see how your Determination is against this!"

Asriel shot forwards, swinging his Chaos Sabers as bolts of lightning began to rain down around Harley. He dodged Asriel's swords, and seized him by the robe, throwing him onto one of the warning symbols on the ground. Asriel didn't notice the lightning, and summoned a star shower, the bullets raining down on Harley. As Asriel was struck by his own lightning, Harley raised a shield around himself, only for the largest star to smash right through it and into him.

Undyne quickly raised a shield around the spectators, the house, and herself, ensuring that no damage was done to any of them. They watched as Asriel rose to his feet, and was tackled back down by Harley. The two of them rolled around, exchanging blows before Asriel shoved him off, and slammed his head into Harley's. He stumbled, and Asriel summoned another Chaos Buster, and fired, this time hitting Harley head-on with a beam of rainbow energy. Harley flew back and hit the ground, rolling back and onto his feet. His eyes flared, and he shot forwards, again tackling Asriel and slamming his fists into his face, channeling his magic so the force of every blow sounded like a mini explosion going off. They hit the ground, and Harley summoned a sword, and slammed it into Asriel's side, who yelped in pain. Harley stood, and he slammed his foot into Asriel's knee, breaking it. The goat snarled, and summoned a Chaos Buster, firing at Harley. It hit him in the chest, and he flew back, as an entire row of lightning from Asriel's Shocker Breaker struck the ground. The beam from the Chaos Buster shoved Harley right through all of the electricity, and when he hit the ground, the large star from Star Blazing fell down on him, making a direct impact. Asriel leaped forwards, and stabbed down with one of his Chaos Sabers, and heard the crunching of bone as the blade met Harley's ribs.

"Surrender." Asriel commanded, smirking.

The smirk quickly faded as Harley rose to his feet, allowing the blade to go hilt deep into his chest. He stepped forwards, and grinned darkly as the Rage began to pool into his eyes.

"This pain is  _nothing_.' Harley growled, and summoned his own sword, slamming it into Asriel's stomach. Asriel's eyes widened, and they both collapsed to the ground. Harley's blade disappeared from Asriel's stomach, but the Chaos Saber remained in Harley's chest.

Undyne and Freddy exchanged worried looks, and ran over to the pair. Freddy quickly sealed Asriel's wounds as Undyne pulled the blade out of Harley, and then went to restore Asriel's HP as Freddy closed Harley's wounds.

After a few moments, the two of them sat up, and Harley looked around at the puddles of blood that he was surrounded by. He rose, and held out a hand to Asriel, who took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"...well, we may have gotten out of control there." Harley said.

"Heh, yeah." Asriel looked embarrassed. "To be fair, you are a powerful opponent."

"So are you. And I don't believe that either of us were using our full strength."

Asriel laughed. "No. We weren't. We probably would've reduced our home to ash if we were." Asriel morphed back into his normal form, and Harley chuckled.

"What?" Asriel asked.

"You look so cute and innocent in that form. And yet, you are probably the strongest monster alive."

"It's my disguise, bro!"

Harley laughed, and headed over to the others, with Asriel, Freddy, and Undyne all following.

Asriel and the others walked over to the rest of the group, leaving Harley alone at the front.

"So you have all witnessed the power that Asriel wields." Harley declared. "He will be a useful asset in defeating the NHDS, and shall take Emilia's place as one of the seven leaders of my army."

Frisk frowned. "I thought you said that Sans healed her?"

"i repaired her spine, but she still needs to awaken from the coma." Sans replied. "i don't know how long that will take."

"And I want to destroy the NHDS as fast as I can." Harley said. "We have Asriel now, and I plan on taking full advantage of that."

"Yeah, just one, teensy-weensy thing." Undyne said. "How in the hell is Asriel here? He died, along with Chara! And I thought you used your excessive DT to bring  _her_ from the Void!"

Harley hesitated, and glanced over at Chara. She nodded, but he shook his head, ever so slightly.

" _He doesn't want to expose us_." Chara thought. " _Even after we nearly killed him… he is refusing to tell the others what happened_."

Frisk glanced at Chara, and sighed. She opened her mouth to talk, but Harley cut her off. "I was injured while fighting Rage. I could feel my DT overflowing, and decided to put it to use."

Undyne frowned. "You didn't mention any injuries."

Harley raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you honestly expect me to tell anyone I was hurt?"

"I… i guess not." Undyne shrugged. "It's whatever. You are my commander, and it is not my place to question you."

"Speaking of that, Undyne. I am reinstating the Royal Guard, and I would like you to take on the Role of Captain once more, if you wish."

Undyne grinned. "Gladly. Would you like me to recall all the old members?"

"No. The Royal Guard will consist of a small group of trusted monsters. I do not want to build another army, just a small, elite force to protect my family. The monsters on my mind are…" Harley frowned. "You, Sans, Grillby, Mettaton, and… Papyrus."

Sans's eyes darkened, but Harley continued to speak, not allowing anyone to cut him off. "Grillby and Mettaton will continue their ordinary lives, just if a threat comes onto my family, I expect them to assist in protecting them. Sans, you are my Judge, so there is really no difference for you. And Pap shall be assigned to protect mother."

Sans's frown remained, but he nodded. "and if they refuse?"

Harley shrugged. "I'm not going to make them. I'd just really like their help, is all."

Sans nodded.

"Where has Mettaton been?" Undyne asked.

"He's with Alphys, last I saw." Frisk told her. "She's working on upgrades for him, and I told her to… Increase the defenses, against Magical Attacks."

"Uh, good idea." Harley told her. "After this, Sans, I want you to speak with Mettaton, and Undyne to speak with Grillby. Alright?" They nodded, and Harley scratched his chin. "Now, the biggest topic. Sans, did you manage to figure out where the NHDS is based?"

"city hall. or underneath it, at least."

"Do you know if the mayor is aware of this?"

Sans laughed. "unlikely. he has an lv of one. he's probably just an incompetent nincompoop."

"So we storm City Hall."

"When?" Freddy asked.

Harley lifted his chin. "In two days, at Daybreak."

"So soon?" Chara asked.

"Yes. It's about time we ended this." Harley waved his hand. "Attend to your duties, and get some rest. Sans, Undyne, come to me."

They both walked over to him as the others stood, and began to head inside.

"Alright, I want you both to tell every member of my army to be at city hall the morning of the attack." They nodded, and Undyne ran off. Sans moved to follow her, only for Harley to grab his arm. "Sans, I do believe that Frisk or Chara may have gone after Alphys to learn everything they would've needed to use the DT Extractor. Make sure she doesn't tell anyone, okay?"

"i don't understand why you are protecting them, kid."

"You would do the same for Papyrus."

"yeah, but-"

"That was an order, Sans."

The skeleton shook his head. "whatever. i'll see you later, kid."

Harley sighed, and slowly walked inside.

* * *

Freddy followed Asriel, Chara, and Frisk inside the house. They all stopped in the living room, and Chara sat, Asriel jumping up beside her.

"My name is Freddy." Freddy shook Asriel's tiny hand, as Frisk sat down on the other side of the room.

"I'm Asriel." He replied. "Hey, are you a Soul of Kindness?"

Freddy nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Cool! Kindness is my primary trait, too!"

Freddy gave him a small smile, before he walked over to Frisk, and sat beside her.

"So…" Freddy shook his head. "Who is going to cough up the lie?" Everyone turned to look at him, and he pointed at Asriel. "How is he here?"

"You heard Harley." Chara told him. "He was-"

"Bull, to the shit. I do believe that it was a fatal injury that triggered Harley's last DT overflow, the one that allowed him to restore you. Isn't that what you guys said?" The three of them sat quiet, and Freddy snorted in frustration. "Come on, guys. I'm not stupid. If Harley was fatally injured by Rage, how would he have been able to finish the fight? And not to mention…" Freddy frowned. "I know Harley put on fresh clothes when we got home. We all did, seeing how most of us were just wearing scraps. So why did the clothes he was wearing have holes in the chest and back?"

With that part, he turned his gaze over to Chara, his blue-grey eyes hardening. "You left with him, following Frisk. And if you three had gotten into a fight, well, I'd imagine Frisk would be a prisoner, not sitting right there." He stepped forwards, and glared down at Chara. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Freddy, back off." Harley's voice filled the room, and after a few moments, Freddy obeyed.

"You are very observant, Freddy. But I'd advise that you don't get in Chara's face. If it weren't for the fact that she's, let's put it, very distracted, you'd probably be on the floor."

"Or worse." Freddy muttered, and stepped back. He gazed over at Harley. "What happened, man?"

"Look, you guys did the deed." Asriel said. "The least you can do is admit it, and face your consequences."

Chara sighed. "I made a plan to return Asriel. One that I didn't run past Harley, but told Frisk. As the battle was going on in the school, I harvested six different human souls, so all I needed was…"

"Determination." Freddy finished. "So when Frisk left here in a hurry…"

"She was gathering everything else we needed, because Sans was onto us."

"And instead of rationally talking about all of this, you guys decided that this was better?"

"Yes, and as Harley confessed his love to her, she stabbed him. Twice." Asriel finished.

"Azzy!" Chara protested. "It wasn't like that!"

"That's what it looked like!" Asriel took a deep breath, and gazed up at his sister. "Look, I'm glad to be back, but you shouldn't have done it this way!"

"How else could we!" Frisk shouted. She pointed at Harley and Chara. "These two, alongside Undyne and myself, just barely beat Rage! And Cruelty, who is weaker than Rage, was wiping the floor with us and Papyrus! Asriel is the edge we need!"

"At what cost, Frisk!" Asriel shouted. "We should not be betraying one another!"

Amidst all of the yelling, Harley held out his hand to Chara, who took it. The two of them walked out of the living room and into the kitchen.

"...That's what it felt like, Chara."

"Harley, I never-"

"Let me finish. Please." She fell silent, and Harley took in a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I exposed myself to you. Chara, I trusted you, and you betrayed it." Tears began to well up in Chara's eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak, only to get cut off again. "Look, I am going to assume that you heard my conversation with Sans about Gaster. Is that correct?" She nodded. "So why, in the everloving hell, didn't you talk to me first?"

"You would've said no, Harley."

"You didn't give me a chance, Chara." he lowered his head. "And now..." Harley broke off. and took another deep breath. "Chara, I meant every word I said to you… but I can't trust you anymore, now can I?"

"Harley-"

"Don't." He met her eyes, and Chara saw that they too, were filled with tears. "Just…  _don't_ , Chara. Nothing that you can say-" He broke off, and wiped his eyes with his wrist. "Nothing that you can say will make this better. I… I need some time to think."

In the living room, Asriel, Frisk, and Freddy all had realized that Chara and Harley had left. They turned, and saw as Harley turned away from Chara, and walked into the living room. Tears began to stream out of Chara's eyes as she watched Harley walk away.

He stopped in front of Frisk, and gazed down at her.

"Do you have anything to say?" He asked.

"Look, I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you, Harley. The original plan was to, once we had all of the souls, but Sans was onto me. I acted without thinking."

Harley nodded. "You usually do."

"You aren't… mad?"

"Well, you broke my trust, but you are my sister. That's bound to happen. As for if I'm mad…" He scratched his chin, and then swung his fist at her, decking Frisk right in the face. The force of the blow broke her nose, and caused Frisk to stumble backwards into the couch behind her. "No, I'm not mad. Honestly, you and I have done worse to each other. I decapitated you twice, so yeah." He held his hand out to her, and she grasped it, letting him help her up. "I just… I need to think, is all. I'm probably going to take some time for myself after all of this."

"You'd deserve it." Frisk pointed out.

"You're letting her off easy?" Asriel asked. "But not Chara?"

Harley shook his head. "Asriel, Chara and I have a different relationship then Frisk and I. And I've been through too much with this jackass to stay angry. I'll get her back, I always do."

"But-"

"Asriel, wouldn't you do the same for your family?"

Asriel hesitated, and nodded. "Yeah. I would."

Harley pulled Frisk into an embrace, and whispered in her ear. "Be at Fear's in twenty minutes."

"Alright."

Harley pulled away, and glanced at the three of them. "Get some rest. You guys will need it. And Asriel." Harley looked away. "Check on Chara… please. I hate to see her in pain." He gazed back at the goat, with tears in his eyes again. "I need to go."

Harley walked out of the house, and past Toriel. "Hey, mom. I gotta go. I'll be back."

"Alright, my child. Be safe, and return soon!"

"I will. Oh, and there is someone inside that is looking forwards to seeing you."

"Oh, really?" She walked towards the house, and as he walked away, Harley could hear her shriek of happiness.

He smiled. " _At least something good is coming out of all of this_." He thought, and he frowned. " _Before I decide what I am going to do after all of this… I have some unfinished business_." Harley pulled out his phone. "Hey, Sans? Bring them to the place Pap told you about. Now."

-line-

Back in the house, Asriel walked over to Chara, and Toriel followed the two of them upstairs, leaving Freddy and Frisk alone.

Freddy crossed his arms, and studied Frisk.

"What?" Frisk asked him.

"You… I don't get you."

"What do you mean?" she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"You hate humans because you believe we are all vile. That we are all the twisted creatures that harmed you and your brother, and yet I can't help but notice the hypocrisy of your actions."

"Freddy, this has nothing-"

"Don't you get it, Frisk? This has  _everything_ to do with that." Freddy shook his head. "Look, you and Chara both betrayed your brother. Maybe he is letting you off easy, but I want to point out one thing, Frisk: Not one human of Harley's army has betrayed him. Only you two, the ones who have a prejudice against humans, did so."

"Freddy… I'm aware." Frisk gazed at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. "The last several years of my life, everything has been in black and white. Joseph was evil, Harley and I were innocent victims. Monsters were good, Humans were evil. I...I was evil, Harley was good. It's always been clear, with no blurring of the lines."

"But I came up here intending to hate all of humankind, and then I met… you. A human willing to stick his own neck and reputation out for another, selflessly protecting me behind the scenes." Freddy's eyebrows shot up in shock, and Frisk chuckled lightly. "Yes, Freddy… I know all about you getting some of the students to leave me alone, since you didn't want them to torment me."

"And not just you… Emilia and the rest of the humans in Harley's army are laying down their lives to defend others who can't, which is a truly selfless act, one I had never even considered humans capable of."

"What, have you never heard of the army?"

"I have, but, uh, I kind of figured they just liked to kill. Guess I was wrong, huh." Frisk laughed awkwardly, and Freddy shook his head.

"...I'm glad to hear you say of of this, Frisk. I truly am." He told her. "You have changed so much in this last week, and I think it is amazing."  
Frisk held out her hand to Freddy. "Come on, let's go get some rest."

Freddy took her hand, and the two of them headed up to her room.

* * *

 _Pop_.

Sans appeared behind Alphys, who let out a shriek of terror, dropping the wrench she was holding.

"S-sans!" She shrieked. "Wh-what have I said about d-doing that!"

Sans chuckled. "heya, alph. whatcha up to?"

"Mettaton wanted me to ch-check on his NEO form, s-so he could be ready for the next b-battle. B-but Frisk p-popped up, demanding to know how to use the DT Extractor, and how-"

"look, alph. i need a favor, one that's comin' directly from the prince."

"Y-you mean the king?"

Sans frowned. "alph. asgore's dead, ya know this."

"Yes, which m-makes Harley the k-king, doesn't it?"

"no, tha'd be asriel."

"Asriel…" Alphys gasped. "They didn't!"

Sans nodded solemnly. "they did." Sans quickly explained what happened to Alphys.

"Oh. n-no…" Alphys stumbled back, and covered her face with her hands. "And I told her h-how to do it!"

"you were obeyin' an order, alph." Sans reminded her. "jus' like i am." Alphys gazed up at him, a confused look on her face. "for whatever reason, harley has commanded that what truly happened is to remain secret. the official reason is that a severe wound from the battle with rage lead to an overflow of dt, which they used to restore asriel."

"I-i guess it makes sense." Alphys responded. "H-harley's a great guy, and h-he wouldn't want his sister and C-chara to be exposed, now would h-he?"

'it's what they deserve." Sans muttered. "but your right. and i'd cover for pap, no matter what he did to me."

Alphys nodded, and began to fiddle with Mettaton again.

"tryna raise his magical defense?" Sans asked.

"Already d-did. I'm just making s-sure that it won't have any adverse ef-effects."

Sans nodded. Hearing his phone ring, he glanced at the receiver, and saw it was Harley calling.

"Hey, Sans?"

"what's up."

"Bring them to the place Pap told you about."

"now? you sure?"

"Now."

Harley hung up, and Sans sighed.

"W-who was that?"

"Harley."

"Is everything alright?"

"no. not really." Sans chuckled. "some bad people are abouta get judged, alph." he gestured at Mettaton. "get him up an' runnin, then the two of ya are to go to the dreemurr household, alright?"

Alphys nodded, and with a pop, Sans vanished.

* * *

Harley stood in front of Joseph's abandoned home, the place where he and Frisk were tortured for so many years.

He scowled. " _You are dead_." he thought. " _Frisk slew you, and yet, I cannot get you out of my head_."

" _But then again, I don't seem to forget much. I'm haunted by nightmares of the Genocide timeline, and by the atrocities you dealt upon Frisk and I_."

" _But we won, didn't we? You cannot harm us anymore_."

"Hey, Harley." Frisk jogged up beside him, and gazed at the house in disgust. "Why are we here?"

Harley gestured at the entrance. "You will see."

"Wait." Frisk stepped in front of Harley, and gazed up at him. "Look…" She took a deep breath. "I'm truly sorry for how everything went down. It kind of… spiraled out of control."

"Frisk, I told you, I'm not angry at you. Just… a little hurt and disappointed is all." Harley put a hand on her shoulder. "Why couldn't you just tell me what you guys were planning?"

"I panicked, man. When Sans found out, I just… freaked out."

"I love you, sis. But you really need to get a grip. What if I was wrong? What if I had died?"

"I would've killed Chara, and died fighting the NHDS." She replied seriously.

Harley chuckled, and hugged his sister. "Frisk, I can't take much more than this. It's getting to the point that the only people I can fully trust are a skeleton that I killed, and a girl that Chara put in a coma."

"So when this is all over, take a break. Go on a trip. You deserve it."

"If I leave, it's going to be far, Frisk."

Frisk shrugged. "You can only go so far on this planet, Harley. Eventually you will stop moving away, and start heading back."

Harley shook his head, and gestured for Frisk to follow him. The two of them walked down the stairs, and into the basement that they had lived in for years.

_-heading down the hall, hearing strange noises from his room-_

In the middle of the hallway stood Sans, whose eyes were dark and empty.

"Where are they?" Harley asked him. Sans wordlessly pointed at the room on the back right.

Harley walked past him, with Frisk following close behind. They arrived at the door, and Harley pulled it, ripping it off its hinges and throwing it to the ground.

_-standing in front of the open door, shock and disgust filling him as he saw a man bending over his sister-_

He and Frisk walked in and saw two people, both handcuffed with bags over their heads.

_-running in, grabbing a whip off the ground and jumping at the man behind Frisk-_

"Who…?" Frisk asked, and Harley walked over, and tore the bags off, all while trying to push away the horrid memories of his past.

"Hello, John. Maria."

Harley and Frisk's father blinked multiple times, and glared at his children. "You! Where have you brought us? And for the love of god, what is that smell?"

_-pulling the man to the ground, and finally breaking his neck, and dropped the corpse-_

Harley knelt in front of John. "This, John, is where we lived. For six years, this is where  _we lived_." Harley gestured around the room. "Gaze and  _admire_ at all we had. There, in that corner, is where Frisk slept, in a thin dress that they gave her as ' _clothes_ '. When it was warm, I slept on the floor, probably right where your feet are resting now. And when it was cold, we would huddle for warmth under the thin blanket that they supplied us, even on the many occasions that they decided to see if we could survive if we slept in the  _nude_!"

"And I do believe that I forgot to mention something else that went on in that bed." Harley leaned over to Maria, and turned her head, forcing her to look at the corner. "Right there,  _Mother_ , is where Frisk was raped for  _years_."

John sneered. "Maybe you should've protected her, you little shit."

Harley slowly turned his head to glare at John, and he pointed right behind him. His father turned, and saw the remains of a human body.

"So that's what smells." John sniffed.

_-throwing his button down shirt onto Frisk; standing protectively in front of her as Joseph appeared-_

"He was the one who was unlucky enough to be in my sister when I found out." Harley replied darkly.

"What, did you have a knife? Stab him in the back? How manly of-  _oof_ "

Frisk punched John in the gut, cutting him off. "He broke his neck." She growled. "Like I'm going to do, if you don't shut up."

"Big, bad Frisky. Why don't you untie me, then? See what'll happen!"

Frisk opened her mouth, but Sans, who was standing in the doorway, cut her off.

"i'm gonna say this once. if these two order me to kill you, not only will i be obligated to, i will do so with a smile." His left eye flashed to life as a Gaster Blaster appeared, and he growled. " _ **and there will be no remains**_."

"Sans, stand down." Harley ordered. The blaster vanished, and Harley gazed at John and Maria, utterly disgusted with them. "Stand up." Maria stood, but John simply glared up at him. Harley summoned an energy sword, the red of Determination illuminating the room.

" _Now_." he commanded, his voice but a whisper.

John stood, warily gazing at the weapon in Harley's hand. Harley stepped out of the room, and John and Maria followed, with Frisk and Sans at the rear.

_-being forcibly carried down the hall by several people, with Frisk quietly following-_

They walked down the hall, and stepped into the room on the left.

Inside, there were many devices and tools. Syringes, with empty canisters littering the floor. There was a table, with belts to strap down a victim, with an assortment of needles and blades nearby. There were gallows, to trap a person's hands and head, in order to leave them vulnerable from behind. Chains hung from the ceiling, and on one wall, next to an assortment of whips, there were pictures, mainly of Frisk in various states of undress, but also of Harley, in many different forms of agony.

_-chained down, Joseph carving into him back-_

Harley led the group into the center of the room, and he gazed down at a dry bloodstain that was beside his foot.

_-screaming in pain as he watched several different men force themselves into Frisk, all while struggling to get free-_

Scowling, he turned and faced his parents once more.

"Look, Harley." John said, gazing around the room apprehensively. "If you are planning to kill us, just get it over with already."

Maria gazed at her husband in horror, as Harley shook his head and sighed.

"Look, unless you give me a reason to, I'm not going to kill you, John."

"You… you aren't?" Maria asked shakily. "So… why?"

Harley walked over to the pictures, and collected a few off the wall, of both him and Frisk.

_-his vision dimming, his movements grew weaker, his last thoughts being the desire to not leave Frisk alone-_

Shaking his head and turning, he strode over to John and Maria, holding the photos to them. John grabbed them and flipped through them, a look of disgust on his face.

"What do you want me to say, Harley?" he asked, handing the photos to his wife. "Do you want an apology?"

"Was it worth it?"

"What?"

"Selling us. You got rid of Frisk and I so you could be happy, right? So was it worth it?"

John glanced at Maria, who was weeping as she shakily flipped through the photos.

"It… was." John lifted his chin. "We didn't intend to have you guys, Harley. We didn't want to live poorly, and your mother wanted to be famous. So… Yes. It was worth it."

Harley's eyes hardened. "Enjoy your lives, then." Harley glanced at Sans. "Send them home, please."

Sans nodded and walked over, grabbing the two of them by their hair.

"Get your hands off!" John shouted.

"Wait!" Maria cried out. She stood, and Sans released her. She walked over to Harley, and gazed up into his gleaming red eyes.

"...you're taller than me, Harley."

"You would've know that, Maria, if you were around for the last six years."

"Harley, I'm sorry." Maria whispered. "I didn't know that this would be the outcome. That you would be tortured for years."

"What did you think would happen?" Frisk asked, as she walked over to Harley, "Did you think that it would be all sunshine and rainbows?"

"No… I just didn't expect this." Maria gazed down at the photos. "Harley… Frisk… I'm truly sorry. I wish there was something I could do, but I know it's too late. Just know that if you ever need anything, I will do whatever I can to help you."

Without waiting for an answer, Maria walked over to Sans, and knelt. The skeleton grabbed onto her hair again, and the three of them vanished.

Harley took Frisk by the hand, and led her out of the building.

"Is it over?" Frisk asked him.

"I don't think it'll ever be." Harley said softly, and held out his arm, baring his wrist to the sky, with Frisk copying him. On their pale arms, they could still faintly see the scars running down the length of their forearms. "We will always live with the memories of what happened, and the things we did in an attempt to escape from it."

"But we need to keep pushing forwards, right Harley?" She met his eyes, and saw that his eyes were now a dull red. He gazed back at the house, and his reflection had turned grey, with dark hair and no eyes… wait, what?

"Harley, are you okay?"

"I'm just tired, Frisk." Harley shook his head and yawned. "Come on, let's go home."

* * *

_Harley opened his eyes, wincing in pain as Frisk dabbed some disinfectant on his back._

" _Harley!" She cried out, dropping the rag she was holding and hugging him. "You're awake!"_

" _Ow, Frisk, my back." Harley groaned, and she scurried away, watching as he rose._

" _I'm so sorry!" She cried out._

" _It's alright." He replied. "I'm happy to see you aren't marked, too."_

_Frisk opened her mouth to reply, but there was a knock on the door, which caught them both off guard. No one ever knocked on their door._

_The man stepped in, and grinned when he noticed that Harley was awake._

" _Hmph, seems that it does take a lot more than that to kill you." he remarked, and stepped aside, allowing two of his lackeys to walk in, holding a mirror and a tray with food on it._

_Harley glanced down at the tray, and saw milk, bread, and a steak, with a knife sitting next to it._

" _The food is for the two of you. But first…" The man had one of his lackeys set the mirror down beside Harley. "Check out my handiwork."_

_Harley glanced back down at the knife, and slowly turned, gazing over his shoulder, and he saw the words that the man had carved into his back._

_K._

_Too weak._

" _I wanted to remind you." The man sneered. "That no matter how strong you_ get _, I am still stronger."_

_Harley glared at the wounds on his back, and glanced down at the knife on the tray once more, which was being blocked by one of the man's lackeys. He glanced at Frisk, who shrank back, terrified by the fires of rage that she could see burning in his eyes. Harley spun, and shove the lackey towards the man, and seized the knife off the ground, turning to face his captors. The lackeys moved to engage him, but the man held up one of his hands, stopping them._

" _Do I really need to give you another reminder?" Joseph asked, his voice cold._

_Harley glanced at the mirror, where part of the number could be seen carved into his shoulder._

" _No. I think I got it."_

_Harley walked over to the mirror, and turned, reaching over his shoulder with the knife. He dug the tip of the knife into his back, and with a grimace of pain, began to cross out the words that the man had made. When he reached the limit of how far his arm could move, he swung his arm around, reaching up his back, where he continued to cross out the words with the knife._

_As the cold steel bit into his flesh, he could hear the sharp intakes of breath from the man's lackeys, and the whimpers of fear coming from where Frisk was standing. The blood slid down his back, covering his hands and pooling onto the floor._

_When he had finished, Harley glared at the man, throwing the knife at his feet._

" _Still think I'm too weak?" Harley asked, breathing heavily._

_The man actually looked impressed." No, that is quite the show of Determination, and I applaud you for it. However…" He pointed at Harley, and the two lackeys seized him. "Rules are rules."_

_The lackeys dragged him out of the room, and Frisk was left alone with Joseph._

" _N...no…" Harley thought, the pain and loss of blood making his head spin. "N...not a-again…"_

-line-

"Harley, wake up." Frisk hissed. "Harley!"

Harley sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Wha-?"

"You slept through the day, and it's almost time for us to meet up at city hall."

"What time is it?"

Frisk glanced at his clock. "It's four in the morning."

"Why didn't anyone wake me?" Harley asked tiredly

"I was going to, but Mother wanted to let you rest."

Harley stood, and pulled off his t-shirt. He walked over to his dresser, and pulled out a black long sleeve.

"Don't bother." Frisk said. "Mother prepared us outfits. Said she wants us to look like 'badass' when leading the army."

Harley coughed. "She outright said badass?"

Frisk nodded. "And it sounded  _so_ cringy."

"I would imagine. Have you seen any of them yet?"

"No, she wouldn't let me until today."

"Alright, I guess we should just go down and see what she has for us."

Frisk coughed into her fist. "Not going to put a shirt on? To cover the scars?"

Harley shook his head. "No. Just don't look, sis."

They exited Harley's room, and walked downstairs to the living room, where Chara was already waiting for them.

"Hey, Harley." Chara greeted him. "How'd you sleep?"

Harley grunted, and sat in the chair next to her. "Where's Asriel?"

"Patrolling with Sans."

"What about Toriel?"

Chara pointed in the direction of Toriel's room. "She's been waiting for you." Chara took in a deep breath, and shouted, "Mom! He's up!"

"Just a second!" Toriel yelled in response, and a moment later, she pushed her door open, striding into the kitchen with a bundle of clothing in her arms. With a wide smile, she separated the clothes into three stacks, and passed one to each of them.

"Mom, you do know that we are going to end up destroying these clothes, right?" Harley told her, poking at the stack in front of him.

"Yeah, but…" Toriel's smile faded a little bit. "I-I just… wanted a picture, y'know?"

"A picture?"

"Yeah, a picture." She took a deep breath, "Look, I know that the chances of everyone coming back are…" Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and Frisk whacked the back of Harley's head.

"They look lovely, Mom." Frisk said, and she walked upstairs. "I'll be back in a moment!"

Chara followed Frisk upstairs, leaving just the two of them. Toriel sniffed, and Harley awkwardly poked at the stack in front of him once more.

"Mom, look-"

"Harley, I know what happened." Toriel sniffed, and gazed down at him. "Asriel and Chara told me."

"Everything?"

"Every detail." Toriel shook her head wearily. "Harley, I want you to know that I love you very much, and if you need to l-leave." her voice shook, "I will support you."

"I don't know what I'm doing yet, Mom." He let out dry chuckle. "I'm more concerned with the situation at hand, because who knows if I'm even going to be alive by the end of the night. Still… it's good to know I have your support. It means a lot to me." He rose, and walked over to Toriel, giving her hug. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, my son."

Harley released her, and walked back over to the table. He lifted the first article of clothing up - a black tee with a single white stripe running through the center - and pulled it on. He then lifted up the next one, and saw a black jacket, with a large gold Delta Rune emblazoned on the back. And on the right arm, there was a circle of hearts encircling the cloth, each heart one of the seven positive soul traits.

Harley pulled the jacket on. It fit just right, and he grinned at Toriel.

"Thanks, mom."

There was a rush of feet at the staircase, as Frisk and Chara burst into the room. Chara had a green tee, with one brown stripe running through the middle, and a olive green sweater with the Delta Rune also emblazoned on it.

Frisk was simply wearing a large blue sweatshirt, with purple stripes running through it, and the Delta Rune on her back. They both had the hearts encircling their right arms as well.

Toriel beamed with pride. "My darling children… Your father would be so proud of all of you."

The three of them all stood next to each other, with Frisk and Chara standing on other side of Harley. Toriel lifted up her camera, and snapped a photo.

"Thank you, my children…" Toriel wiped her eyes with the back of her paw. "Now go, before I make you stay."

Harley hugged Toriel, with Chara and Frisk following suit. "I love you, Mom." Chara told her, with Harley and Frisk murmuring in agreement.

"I love you too."

Toriel stood at her door, and watch as the three of them stepped outside, where Sans was walking up with Asriel, Undyne and Freddy.

"Be safe, children." Toriel whispered, blinking away tears as the seven of them vanished. "And please, come home."

* * *

The seven of them appeared at the helm of the army, which had already gathered at city hall. Hundreds of creatures, human and monster alike, had shown up.

Papyrus, Grillby and Mettaton approached the group. Mettaton was in his NEO form, with Papyrus sneaking looks at him, admiring the machine. Grillby was dressed in his usual bartender's outfit, minus the apron, and Papyrus was wearing his usual battle body.

"Hel-lo, lovelies!" Mettaton greeted them. "Harley, I see that we are all about to attack, but I just wanted to let you know that, if we survive this battle, I am accepting your request to join the new Royal Guard!"

Behind Mettaton, Grillby nodded, agreeing with what Mettaton had said.

"Thank you." Harley said. "I know that you guys are taking on a new burdens on the surface, and it means a lot to me that you are willing to shoulder more responsibility to protect my family."

"Of course, my darling! I love you Dreemurrs!"

"And what is going on here?"

Harley turned, and saw that the mayor had appeared, and was again accompanied by the tall man in black and the police chief.

Harley lifted his chin. "I have located the lair of the NHDS, mayor!" Harley called out. "And, for your sake…" Harley's eyes glowed. "...I hope that you had no idea that it was there."

"For my sake? Why, you-" The Mayor sputtered.

The Police Chief cut him off. "Where is it located, Mr. Vogel?"

Harley lifted up one hand, and pointed down at the ground. "Under city hall." He told her.

The large crowd behind Harley began to mutter, and many began to unsheathe weapons, or turn off the safeties on their guns.

"And what proof do you have?" The Mayor asked.

"For one." Rage's voice rang out as the doors behind the Mayor opened. "I'm behind you, you blithering idiot."

The mayor and chief spun, but the man in black stood still, glaring at Harley.

"Harley…?" Chara whispered from behind him. "Is it just me, or are his eyes… black?"

Rage strode forwards, with two people beside him. One was a stout, muscular female, with gleaming indigo eyes. The other was a tall, brawny male, with white eyes, making it look as if he had no pupils. The female was holding a rifle, while the male held a shield and a large battle-ax.

Rage glared down at Harley. "I don't believe you've met Pride," He gestured at the female with Indigo eyes. "Or Aggression." He gestured at the male.

"ive met pride." Sans muttered. "she is freakin fierce."

"Or… Hatred. Speaking of which, kill them."

The male in black lifted up his arm, and fired off two shots, killing the mayor and police chief instantly. He then walked past the bodies, over to Rage's side.

Rage clapped his hands, and members of the NHDS began to pour out of the building, forming ranks behind him. Rage laughed, and shook his head.

"Look, Harley. You and Chara, you guys have earned my respect. But it is time to end this, and I do believe that God has chosen me to be the victor of this war!"

"If God wanted you to live." Harley snarled. "He wouldn't have created  _me_!"

Rage shook his head. "We shall see, now won't we?" He waved his hand. "Aggression, kill them all." Pride and Hatred began to walk into the building, and Rage turned, glancing back at Harley. "I expect to see you inside in twenty minutes. Don't be late." He followed the other two back inside.

Harley growled, his eyes glowing dark red. Beside him, Asriel turned into his battle form, and Frisk, Chara, Freddy, Papyrus, and Undyne drew or summoned weapons.

"For our families!" Harley shouted. "Our friends! Our homes! And to avenge the fallen!  _Attack_!"

Aggression roared, and the two armies charged, crashing into each other as the final fight for Ebbott City began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I like sticking references in my stories.
> 
> Next up!
> 
> The battle against the NHDS meets its conclusion!
> 
> Two chapters left in the NHDS Arc.


	40. Rage Conquered

" _Fighting has broken out around Ebbot City Hall, as Harley Vogel's army clashes with the Anti-Monster Extremist Group, known as the Non-Human Defense Squad. The Prince and Princesses of Monsterkind have all been seen fighting their way through the forefront, with the Leader of the NHDS retreating into City Hall."_

" _Police are on the scene, but have been unable to stop the combat, and several were injured trying to break up fights. They have retreated for now, but are definitely planning out another way to stop the violence."_

" _Why is it that the fighting has broken out?"_

" _Mr. Vogel and his army have been at odds with the NHDS for a while now, which is understandable, seeing how it was the NHDS that slew King Asgore."_

" _I know, but why now? Vogel's army have always been on the defensive, but now they are the attackers!"_

" _Well, witnesses that were on scene reported that Mr. Vogel accused the Mayor of hiding the NHDS under City Hall, and the NHDS pouring out of City Hall with their leaders."_

" _So the rumors are true? The Mayor was working with the Extremists?"_

" _That is unknown. The Mayor, his advisor, and the Chief of Police all disappeared when the fighting broke out."_

" _Well, whatever it is, he will have a lot to answer for."_

" _That he will. For now, it would be best to just avoid the entire City Hall area, for we do not know what will happen in the combat, or how far it will spread."_

" _This is Channel 10 News, bringing you live coverage of everything -"_

Toriel shut off the TV as Alphys began to sob beside her. Toriel put her arm around the smaller monster, and began to cry herself.

"I-i'm so w-worried, a-ab-b-bout everyone…" Alphys sobbed. "U-undyne, Harley, F-frisk, M-mettaton, Ch-chara…"

"My children…" Toriel sobbed. "I just got Chara and Asriel back…" Toriel shook her head, and wiped a furry paw over her eyes, drying them. "We must have faith. They will return. They must…"

"My son will protect your kids."

Toriel leaped to her feet, her paws filling with flames as she glared at the figure standing in the doorway. Alphys hid behind the couch, and peeked over the edge to see what was going on.

Maria Vogel held her hands in the air. "I'm not here to fight."

"You aren't welcome here!" Toriel snarled. "You have some nerve showing up here, after what you did to my kids!"

" _My_ kids." Maria stated, "I-"

"Lost  _all right_  to call them your kids when you  _sold_ them." Toriel finished.

Maria lowered her hands. "I know… I'm just worried about them too. Please, just let me stay here until they return home safely. Then I will leave."  
Toriel hesitated, and the fire in her hands faded. "Fine. When Harley and Frisk return, you leave."

"Thank you."

"But  _you_  will sit in the plastic folding chair."

* * *

Harley ducked, dodging a strike from another member of the NHDS as him and his group pushed forwards. He lead the way, as Frisk, Chara, Asriel, Sans, Undyne, Freddy, Mettaton, Grillby, and Papyrus all followed. They were pushing towards the entrance of city hall, where Aggression was slaughtering ally after ally, with dust and blood coating his arms, hands, legs, and feet.

Asriel snarled, and fired off his Chaos Blaster, just as Sans fired off a Gaster Blaster, the combined energy cutting a path through the NHDS to Aggression. Harley's group charged, and Harley, Chara, and Papyrus attacked Aggression as Sans and the others defended them.

Aggression snarled, and swung his axe at Harley, only for Papyrus to block it. Harley took advantage of the opening and stabbed forwards, impaling Aggression in the side.

Aggression released his axe, and swung his fist downwards, slamming it into Harley's face, who fell back stunned. Chara jumped over Harley, and sent a volley of knives at Aggression, who raised his shield, blocking the attack. Papyrus summoned a Gaster Blaster, and fired it at him, only for Aggression to summon a kite shield in his other hand, blocking that attack too. He threw his smaller shield at Papyrus, who deflected it with a bone staff, only for Aggression to slam into him with his kite shield. Papyrus fell back as Aggression materialized an axe, and swung it down, only for Sans to shout in fury as he blasted Aggression back with one of his Gaster Blasters.

Harley leaped to his feet, his eyes gleaming dark red with the power of his Rage. He roared, and swung out at Aggression, who deflected the strike, his pure white eyes shining.

"You are supposed to be inside." he snarled.

"What, and let you slaughter everyone?  _I think_   _not_!" Harley ducked as Aggression swung at his head with his axe, and Harley jabbed his sword at Aggression's foot, slicing through several of his toes.

"You asshole!" Aggression howled, and summoned another axe as his wounded foot glowed white, and was surrounded by an aura of light. "I will kill you all!"

Undyne charged forwards, and caught his next blow on one of her spears. She danced around him, deflecting and dodging his attacks, before nodding at Chara, both of them leaping into the air. Aggression tried to follow them into the air, but Papyrus leaped up, making a fist and slamming one bony hand into Aggression's face, breaking his nose. Aggression stumbled back, and Undyne and Chara shouted as they both began to rain volleys down on to him. He held up two shields, deflecting the knives and spears, but leaving him open to Asriel's Chaos Buster and Sans's Gaster Blaster, both of which were in front and behind of him. They fired, the beams of energy pouring into him as he roared in pain. His shields dematerialized, and the volleys began to pour into his body, too.

Chara and Undyne landed as Harley ran forwards, catching the Chaos Saber that Asriel tossed at him, and leaped at Aggression, slamming the blade into his chest.

A shot rang out through the air, and Undyne dropped to the ground, a bullet in her head. Chara spun and jumped to the side, but a round still slammed into her arm, the force of the shot sending her spiraling onto the ground.

"Snipers!" Harley shouted, summoned a protective bubble around his group.

"I've got it, lovelies!" Mettaton cried out, and he flew up, the bullets that struck him either ricocheting off, or falling to the ground. He continued to fly up, and when he got a vantage point, Mettaton took aim with his NEO cannon, completely demolishing several snipers before they were able to retaliate.

Harley dropped the bubble, only to be seized from behind as Aggression rose up, the Chaos Saber still sticking out of him.

" _Die_!" he shouted, and began to crush Harley's neck, only for one of Undyne's spears to stab him through the back of the head, the faint blue glow illuminating his face as the lights in his eyes faded. Aggression collapsed, releasing Harley as his white soul floated up in front of Undyne's face - now in her Undying form - and shattered.

Harley coughed, and rose to his feet. "What, no speech this time?"

"There's no time for speeches, kid." Undyne laughed. "Come on, there is an opening in the crowd to the entrance!"

The nine of them - minus Mettaton, who was fighting the snipers - charged forwards, cutting down members of the NHDS as they made their way inside. They burst into City Hall, only to see Pride standing at the end of the main hall, with members of the NHDS all pointing rifles at them.

"Fire!" she shouted, only for Chara, Frisk, and Harley to all instinctively raise up a wall of energy, defending them. Behind them, Sans and Papyrus both summoned Gaster Blasters, and charged them all up.

"open the wall!" Sans commanded, and they dropped it, with the cannons flying in, each firing in a different direction, scattering their opponents. They charged in, and as they saw Pride run into a different room, Grillby grabbed onto Harley's shoulder.

Grillby coughed, and leaned in, speaking very quietly. " _Go downstairs, to the leaders. I have unfinished business with Pride._ "  
"You sure?" Grillby nodded, as several members of Harley's Army broke in, helping Frisk and the others quickly dispatch of the rest of the NHDS members in the room.

"All of you, with Grillby!" Harley barked, and they nodded. "The rest of you with me!" They charged down the stairs, and walked into the main room of the NHDS.

They were standing at the top of a large staircase, in a dimly lit room. At the bottom, the could see a pair of glowing red eyes staring up at them. They quickly ran down, and stood at the bottom of the large atrium.

Rage clapped his hands, and the lights went on, the monitor behind him lighting up. The NHDS symbol was emblazoned on the screen, and was surrounded by hearts, with two of them not lit up. "It's nice to see so many of you made it." He commented. "And Undyne is already transformed, along with Harley channeling Rage. Good, good."

Rage pointed at the monitor behind him. "So you see, this is my main database, and what you see there is the Insignia of the NHDS. The six souls around it, with the NHDS colored Dark Red, standing for, me. When one of us die, the color goes out."

"What is your point?" Frisk snapped.

Rage shrugged. "Notice something wrong with this picture?"

It was Freddy who noticed it. "Wait, we killed Fear and Cruelty!" hearing footsteps, they all turned, and saw Hatred, an unarmed woman with pink eyes, and a man with silver eyes, who had a pistol at his side and a sword on his back.

"A new Fear and Cruelty." Undyne growled. "Fuck."

"You see, this war means that most of my lieutenants can be replaced, with only Vengeance, and of course, me, Rage, being hard to find. Not many people have enough desire for Vengeance in their hearts, it seems. But that matters little. The new Cruelty is as capable and ruthless as the old one, even if he comes from a Bravery soul instead of an Integrity one. And the new Fear, my, my, is she way more capable than the old one, and she comes from an Integrity soul! Meet Ellie and Isaac, everyone!"

Harley scowled. "Undyne, Cruelty. Freddy, Papyrus, Sans, Frisk, Fear. Chara, show him what real Hatred looks like. Asriel? You're with me. Move!"

Frisk glanced over at Freddy, who nodded at her, and the four of them charged towards the woman with pink eyes - Ellie - and as Sans summoned a Gaster Blaster, the other three running in to engage in hand to hand combat. Ellie dodged Frisk's and Freddy's initial attacks, only to get struck in the midsection by Papyrus. She stumbled back, and Sans launched a blast down at her, hitting her dead on and burying her into the ground.

Frisk ran over, and seized her by the throat lifting her into the air.

"Ah, yes…" Ellie choked out. "Feed me… your fears!" she seized Frisk by the wrist, and began to drain her of energy, causing Frisk to drop her.

"No!" Freddy swung a fist at her, only for Ellie to leap back, causing him to punch Frisk instead. Frisk fell back, and Ellie summoned a knife, leaping at Freddy, only to be frozen in the air as Sans activated his gravity magic on her.

Papyrus cackled. "YOU'RE BLUE NOW!" He walked over to her, and Sans slammed her into the ground. Papyrus summoned several rows of blue bones, all of which impaled Ellie.

"DON'T MOVE! IT WILL LITERALLY BE THE DEATH OF YOU!"

Ellie snarled, and her eyes glowed. "I don't have to move to fight you, I can simply do…  _this_!"

Around her, Freddy's, Frisk's, and Sans's eyes glew pink, and they all stumbled back, as if they were trying to get away from someone. Papyrus simply gazed at Ellie, and continued to keep her in place.

"What, don't have anyone to fear?" Ellie questioned the taller skeleton, sounding surprised.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME TO BE AFRAID, CREATURE. I MUST KEEP YOU IN PLACE."

Sans growled, and summoned a Gaster Blaster. He fired it, its energy pouring into the ground in front of them.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THEM?"

"They are seeing the people they fear the most." Ellie growled, sneering. "For Freddy, it is Harley. For Frisk, it is the previous Fear, Joseph. As for your brother, well, it's a skeleton that I don't recognize, with slits above one eye, and one below the other. Family of yours, I presume?"

Papyrus shrugged. "I GUESS. SANS WOULD KNOW BETTER THAN I WOULD."

Ellie's eyes glowed again. "I can show you yours, if you'd let me."

"NICE TRY, FEAR, BUT THERE IS TOO MUCH AT STAKE FOR ALL FOUR OF US TO GO BONKERS." Papyrus turned his head. "HEY, SNAP OUT OF IT! WE HAVE THINGS TO DO!"

Sans hesitated, and a beam of energy that "Gaster" sent at him passed through him harmlessly.

"wh-what?" Sans stammered. "what's-"

"LISTEN TO ME, SANS! HE'S NOT ACTUALLY THERE, THIS CREATURE IS FOOLING YOU WITH MAGIC!"

Sans blinked a few times, and focused on the people in front of him. Slowly, Gaster faded, and he could see Frisk and Freddy both evading their own imaginary demons, as Papyrus held Ellie on the ground.

Sans walked over to Papyrus, and clapped him on the shoulder. "thanks, bro. it's good someone kept a clear head."

"OF COURSE! NO ONE CAN TRICK THE GREAT PAPYRUS WITH ANY RIDICULOUS TOMFOOLERY!"

"i know, bro. you're the best." Sans stretched out his hand, and his left eye flashed to light as he activated his Gravity Magic on Ellie. "close your eyes, pap."

"WHY?"

"just… do it." Papyrus closed his eyes, and Sans pulled Ellie towards him, the blue magic that was still impaling her tearing into her body. She screamed, and Sans summoned four cannons, floating them and her into the air. He fired them, the energy pouring into her body as the magic affecting Freddy and Frisk faded. They both gazed around in confusion, only to jump as Sans slammed Ellie into the ground by their feet.

"dinner is served." He announced. "just pour on a bit of whoop ass, kids, and it'll taste great."

Frisk grinned darkly, and slammed her sword into Ellie's throat, the three of them watching as she choked on her blood and her HP lowered.

"Just finish her, Frisk." Freddy told her, but Frisk didn't reply, nor did she move. So with a scowl, Freddy stepped forwards, pulled Frisk's sword free, and used it to decapitate Ellie, killing the second Fear. As her Pink Soul floated upwards and shattered, they could see the as the light faded from one of the hearts on the monitor.

"CAN I OPEN MY EYES NOW?" Papyrus asked.

"yeah, you can." Sans replied. "come on, lets go an' help undyne with isaac."

The four of them ran past Chara and Hatred, both of which were engaged in a heated, yet fairly even combat. Frisk made of move to help Chara, but Freddy grabbed her arm, and pulled her forwards.

They reached Undyne, who was already pushing Isaac backwards, as his actual sword lay shattered on the ground behind her, and his pistol was impaled by one of her spears.

"The previous Cruelty was  _much_ more of a challenge!" Undyne laughed, as she raised one arm, summoning a volley of spears above Isaac. "You are  _nothing_!" she swung her hand downwards, and each and every one of the spears that hailed down upon him met their mark, impaling him spread-eagled onto the ground. She strode over, and summoned another spear.

" _Die,_ cannon fodder." she swung her spear, slitting his throat, and then impaling his heart, and twisted it. She, and the others behind her, watched as his Silver Soul rose out of his body, and shattered. She turned, and watched as the silver heart on the screen faded to black, then she glanced back down at Sans and the others.

"Frisk, help Chara. You three, with me."

Frisk nodded, and ran off to join her sister in fighting Hatred, as Undyne, Freddy, Sans, and Papyrus all ran off to fight alongside Harley.

As soon as they reached Harley, Rage swung out one glowing hand, a wave of magic knocking all six of them back.

"Your troops were little more than cannon fodder!" Undyne snapped, as she scrambled back to her feet. "Did you really expect them to stop us, after we nearly beat you?"

"Ah, yes. So, it seems that my faith in Fear and Cruelty was misplaced." Rage frowned. "No matter. Hatred remains, and he is taking on both Dreemurrs without much of an issue. ANd to address your concern, dear Undyne…" Rage reached into his pocket, and tossed a syringe at Harley, who deftly caught it. "After that little mishap, I took a little...  _leaf_ , out of Joseph's book."

Harley studied the container that he'd caught, only to recognize the remnants of liquid at the bottom.

_-tied to a chair, being injected by vials of red liquid-_

He gasped. "You didn't!"

"What was in there?" Freddy asked.

"Liquid. Determination." Rage grinned, as his eyes gleamed, filled with his new power. "There were  _twelve_  of those left, all of which are now empty. So you see, Harley, you aren't the only one overpowered anymore."  
"Maybe, but unlike you, I'm not fighting alone!" Harley shouted. "Guys, we need to throw everything we have at him!"

Rage laughed maniacally, and he threw a lightning fast ball of energy at Freddy, striking him directly in the center of his chest, sending him flying backwards and smashing through the railing for the stairs.

"FREDDY!" Papyrus shouted.

Harley scowled. " _Attack!_ "

The five of them charged, as Rage summoned two swords, and channeled his magic into them.

Harley and Undyne reached Rage first, with the former of the two also charging his magic through his weapon. His sword met Rage's, and the two entered a blade lock, neither of them giving any ground.

Undyne struck at his other side, and he turned his head, deflecting her oncoming strike with ease. Sans and Papyrus both charged up Gaster Blasters, and fired them at Rage. He summoned a shield in front of him, which held up against the two beams of energy, but shattered as Asriel fired his Chaos Buster, allowing the three beams to pour into Rage's body. He roared in pain, and slammed his fist into the ground, knocking the five of them back.

"You  _imbeciles_!" Rage shouted, and he rose to his feet. "Five to one, and only two of you are even trying!" Rage's body glowed with the power of his soul, and he lashed out at Harley, striking him dead on, sending soaring into Frisk, interrupting their combat with Hatred as the twins crashed into the far wall.

Asriel growled, and leapt towards Rage, swinging is Chaos Sabers. His blades met Rage's, who snarled and slammed his free hand into Asriel's chest. There was a sharp  _crack_ as several of Asriel's ribs shattered, but he held fast, shoving Rage backwards. Undyne took his place, stabbing out with her spear as several others rained down on Rage from above. Asriel healed his ribs, then fired his Chaos Buster once more, and began to rain lighting and stars down at Rage as he charged forwards with his Chaos Sabers, rejoining the fight.

Over by where Chara and Hatred were still fighting, Harley grunted in pain as he sat up, and tried to regain his bearings.

"What happened to him?" Frisk asked, and Harley turned, seeing Frisk cradling Freddy's head.

"Rage." Harley said. "Is his still alive?"

Frisk nodded, and kissed Freddy on his forehead, gently laying him down.

"Do you love him?" Harley asked Frisk.

Frisk shrugged, and stepped closer to her brother. "I think so? I don't exactly know what love would feel like, seeing how I've never really… experienced it."

Harley snorted. "Yeah, I can understand that." Harley gazed over at Chara, who was fighting Hatred still. "Love… isn't easy. It can make you feel, nervous, uncertain. It leaves you vulnerable to attack, to betrayal."

She glanced down at Freddy, a small smile appearing on her face. "And yet… I had no faith or love for humans, but Freddy has slowly been showing to me, through his selfless actions in defending our family and his friends, that… not all humans are bad. He, Emilia, and the rest of the humans are fighting for those that can't, some even committing the ultimate sacrifice for those they love. That… that isn't something I once thought humans capable of. Freddy has shown me so much."

Frisk placed a hand on Harley's back. "I know that it may seem hopeless, Harley, but we can't stop loving, now can we? For when we one day find the person who makes us happy, who makes us feel whole… well, I wouldn't trade that for anything."

"Is that what you think you found?" Harley asked, gazing at Chara.

"It is." She whispered, and glanced back at Freddy.

Harley blinked, and felt the moisture in his eyelashes. He blinked a few more times, and nodded. "Then we must defend it, with our lives."

Harley charged forwards, and slammed his shoulder into Hatred, who flew back a few feet. He then ran over, seized one of Hatred's feet, and threw him right at Rage, who was fighting Sans and Papyrus. The skeleton brothers leapt back, and Hatred slammed into Rage, who managed to catch him and drop him on the floor.

Chara, Frisk, and Harley all ran over to the others, who were all standing in a semi-circle around Rage and Hatred.

Rage chuckled. "So it's come to this?"

"You brought it to this." Harley replied, glowering at the pair. "You could've left us alone. You could've given Monsterkind a  _chance_ , but you refused."

"You really are gullible, Harley." Rage remarked. "You really believe that monsters are made up of love, hope, and compassion?" He pointed at Undyne. "This one  _herself_ can slaughter legions, since she has so much Determination!"

"This is a war that humans started, both times!" Harley shouted. "And I intend to end it, so we can  _all_ live in peace!"

Rage shook his head. "No… I started it this time, but me and the others simply feared that what happened last time would happen again. That a monster would begin the war, yet again!"

The three humans glanced over at the monsters, but Undyne, Papyrus, Asriel, and even Sans seemed confused.

"the war began because of human fear." Sans stated. "because humans feared our abilities, and our power to absorb your souls."

Rage laughed. "Your elders have lied to you. Your history is filled with half-truth. But it matters little, for none of you shall leave here alive!"

Rage jumped forwards, and swung his arms, raining down beams of energy around his assailants. Each time one made contact, there was a miniature explosion, sending debris flying everywhere. Several of the beams slammed into Frisk, and she cried out, collapsing as her HP dropped down to two. Rage went to finish her off, but was intercepted by Papyrus and Chara. Papyrus summoned a Gaster Blaster and fired it, only for Rage to dodge, Chara threw multiple knives at Rage, each making contact and impaling him on his legs and back. He growled, and swung out with a summoned sword, but Harley leaped in front of her, blocking the attack. Rage swung to punch Harley, but he shoved up their swords, breaking off the blade lock and slamming a second energy sword into Rage's wrist. Rage shouted in pain, and as Undyne punched him in the back of the head, Harley finished lopping off his wrist. Asriel went in for the killing blow, but Rage spun, catching Asriel's sword with his remaining hand, and tore it free from his grasp. Rage kicked Asriel, the magically enforced strike sending the goat boy back, Rage slammed the Chaos Saber into Papyrus's chest, and twisted it, dropping the skeleton to the floor.

"No!" Chara screamed, and charged Rage, only to be impaled in the side when Rage engaged her in a brief hand to hand. Undyne ran forwards, and Rage met her blow for blow, but eventually impaled her with seven different energy swords, and she collapsed, her eyelids fluttering as her HP dropped closer and closer to zero. Asriel, Sans, and Harley all attacked at once, forcing Rage to retreat back a few steps, before he stabbed Harley through the gut, and seized Asriel by the robe, swinging him overhead and slamming him into the floor. Rage shot forwards, and seized Sans by the coat, preparing to deal out a killing blow-

Only for Papyrus, who still had the Chaos Saber sticking out of him, to yank Rage back. The larger skeleton's left eye was blazing with orange fire, and he rammed a razor-sharp femur into Rage's stomach.

" _NOT MY BROTHER,_   _YOU BITCH!_ "

Papyrus went on full assault, his Gaster Blasters raining energy blasts down at Rage as Papyrus wielded two femurs, both of which were soon covered in Rage's blood. Rage tried to counterattack, but Papyrus wouldn't relent, which forced Rage onto the defensive.

"NORMALLY, I CHOOSE TO SPARE EVERYONE." Papyrus's voiced echoed over the combat. "BUT  _YOU…_ YOU HAVE DONE TOO MUCH, AND HURT TOO MANY. YOU ARE  _BEYOND_ MERCY."

Rage growled, and began to yell as he charged Papyrus, his sword glowing darker and darker as he ran.

"No!" Harley shouted, and he and Asriel leapt forwards, only for the force of the explosion to send them flying back as a dense smoke filled the air.

It only too a few moments for the smoke to clear, which was more than enough time for Chara to rise to her feet once more. They waited as the scene in front of them cleared, and were horrified by what they saw.

In front of them stood… Rage.

As Papyrus's scarf rested on a pile of dust.

"No…" Asriel recoiled back from the sight.

Chara shook with fury as her eyes began to drip black sludge, and Sans fell to his knees, his head in his hands.

"Pa...Papyrus…" Tears sprung to Harley's eyes, as he began to shake with anger. "You… you monster…"

Rage coughed, and then chuckled. "Got to hand it to the skeleton. He did a number on me, but it's not like that damage can't be fixed, right?"

" _nooooo!"_ Sans howled, and he summoned a hundred Gaster Blasters, all aiming down at Rage. Tears had filled the skeletons eyes as his pointed at the man who had killed his brother. " _die!"_

Every cannon fired at the same time, the energy pouring into Rage and burying him into the ground. Yet Harley and the other three didn't relax, but waited, and the moment the cannons stopped firing, they charged into the crater that they had created, seeking to finally finish the fight.

Rage had barely begun to stand when Chara slammed into him, knocking him back onto the ground and shooting a volley of knives down on him. He summoned a shield over himself, and rolled backwards, sprung to his feet, and jumped forwards, slamming into Asriel, impaling his chest with a sword. He leapt back, and Asriel fell, coughing up blood. Rage spun, and slammed another sword into Chara's throat as she tried to attack him, and he threw her aside. He caught Harley's wrist, stopping his attack, but before he could retaliate, Sans had summoned and fired another dozen Gaster Blasters, sending Rage into another wall.

Rage rose, panting, and Harley leapt forwards. He swung his sword at Rage, and he made contact, the weapon sliding into his side and stopping at his midsection. Rage froze, shocked, and Harley held up one fist, channeling as much magic he could muster into one hand. As he grabbed onto Rage's shoulder and pulling him forwards, he slammed his fist into Rage's chest, grabbed his heart, and forced it through the other side. Rage gasped, and Harley squeezed his hand, squishing his heart, and pulled his hand out of Rage's chest, dropping him to the floor.

Rage coughed, spitting up blood. "Y-you may have… beaten me here… but the war shall never… en-end. M-more like me… shall rise u...u...up… and drive them...monsters underground. For… our… homes…" he closed his eyes, and as he released his final breath, his soul rose up and shattered.

Harley fell to his knees, and gazed around at the ruined secret basement. His friends and family all lay around the area, wounded and dying, but to his relief, he saw that Freddy had awoken, and was trying to heal Undyne.

Harley felt a hand on his shoulder and spun, rising to his feet.

"Sans, I'm so sorry."

Sans shook his head, blankly gazing up at Harley. "kid, are you leaving."

"I… I don't know yet."

"well, in case you do… good-bye." Sans turned and began to walk away, but Harley called out after him.

"Wait! Where are you going to go?"

Sans pointed at the NHDS monitor without looking back, which still showed two lights - Pride and Hatred. "I have some scum to catch."

"Sans!" The skeleton turned, and saw Harley holding out Papyrus's scarf, which had somehow survived the end of the combat. "Here."

Sans grabbed the scarf with one shaking hand, and gazed at it before handing it back. "...good-bye, harley." He snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

Harley shook his head, and gazed down at the red scarf. " _Good-bye, Papyrus._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - One chapter left in the NHDS Arc.


	41. Return to the Beginning

" _No one knows what is going on now."_

" _The members of the NHDS, those that survived, at least, have been rounded up. Several bodies were pulled out of the hidden basement underneath City Hall, including the leader of the NHDS, the man many identify as 'Rage.'"_

" _And what is that supposed to mean?"_

" _Well, according to reports, Rage is a negative Soul Trait, one that gives its users the ability to summon massive amounts of destructive magic."_

" _Magic. Ugh."_ The reporter shook his head. " _Things were simpler when magic wasn't a thing of reality."_

" _I have to agree with you."_

" _Worse yet, no one has been able to locate Harley Vogel or the Dreemurrs since they entered City Hall during the fight. However, the robot - sensation known as Mettaton, who had also fought in this combat, had this to say."_

" _Look, the Dreemurrs and the others are fine."_ Mettaton said into the mic. " _Don't worry your pretty little heads about it, darlin! They are sure to turn up sooner or later."_

Toriel flicked off the TV.

"Wh-where are they?" Alphys stammered.

Maria Vogel shifted uncomfortably in the folding chair. "At least the robot-"

"M-mettaton!"

"-Mettaton, is okay. I'm more worried about my children."

Toriel opened her mouth to reply, but there was a bang at the door. She ran over and summoned her magic, her hands ablaze as she glared at it. "It's open!" She called out. "Who's there!"

There was another bang, and the door was kicked down, revealing Harley, who was holding Chara in his arms.

"Out of the way!" He shouted, and he ran in, heading towards the kitchen. He reached the dining room table, and placed Chara on the table, holding his hand to her throat. "Come on, Chara, come on!"

"What's wrong with her?" Toriel cried out.

"Rage stabbed her in the throat." Freddy replied, as he and Frisk limped over, each leaning onto the other for support. "Undyne is unconscious-" He pointed over at the fish woman, who Asriel, who looked exhausted, was pulling out of her armor with Alphys's assistance, "And I can only seal physical wounds. This keeps opening, and her HP is dropping."

"Chara! You can't die on me now!" Harley shouted. "I can't lose another! I-i can't…"  
"...you won't." Chara croaked, and opened one eye. "Don't worry… Harley. I'm alive."

"Oh… thank god!" Toriel ran over, and began to heal Chara, as Harley stepped backwards and away from the table, stumbling into one of the dining room chairs, putting his head into his hands. Freddy and Frisk limped over to the couches, and they both collapsed on to one, leaning on each other.

Harley sighed, and stood up, taking a mental count of everyone in the room. When he reached Maria, his eyes narrowed, and her stepped towards her.

"Maria, why are you here?" He asked cautiously.

"I-i…" Maria stammered, gazing at him fearfully. "I just wanted… to make sure you were okay. You and Frisk both."

Frisk glanced up at Maria, and shook her head. "I don't get you." Frisk said tiredly. "We've made it very clear that we don't want anything to do with you, and yet you keep coming back? Why? There is no fame in a restraining order, Maria."

"Because… I messed up, Frisk, and I have regretted it for every single day of my life. You children clearly remember what your father was like when you were younger, right?" They nodded. "Do you really believe that I didn't get any of that? That I haven't been abused for my entire marriage?"

"That doesn't justify selling your kids." Chara rasped, sitting up, and brushing off Toriel as she tried to get her to lay back down. "I'm alright now, mom."

"I didn't know where they were going." Maria replied, beginning to tear up. "I didn't know where they were going was going to be worse than at home, where they lived in fear of their father every single day! I thought that they might have it tough, as kids, but not… not…" Maria shakily held up a picture, one that Harley recognized as the ones from Fear's basement.

"You took one?"

Maria bowed her head. "...I did. I… I can never let myself forget what I did to you kids, for you have grown into such amazing adults, even with all of the terrible influences you had growing up." Maria walked to the door, and glanced back at Frisk and Harley. "I'm… i'm proud of you two." She gazed at Toriel. "Take good care of them… please." She stepped out, and they all watched as she walked away.

They all sat in silence for a few moments, before Harley cleared his throat.

"Well… she's persistent." He commented, and walked over to Undyne, who was laying on the couch now. "How is she?" he asked Alphys.

"S-she is going to b-be okay." Alphys replied, looking relieved. "B-but where's S-sans?"

Harley looked away, gazing at the floor.

Toriel walked over to her adopted son, and placed one paw on his face, gently making him meet her gaze.

"Harley, did Sans…?"

Harley shook his head, tears beginning to well up in the corners of his eyes. "N-no." He told her. "Sans is alive. B-but… but…" He broke off and began to blink rapidly, fighting back tears, as Toriel gazed around the room, watching as Freddy comforted Frisk, who was also beginning to cry, and Asriel walked over to comfort Chara.

"Kid..?" Undyne's voice rasped out, breaking the silence. "Kid, what happened?"

Harley opened his eyes, the tears now flowing freely down his face. "It's… It's…" Harley wiped his face with his hand, and gazed down at face of the Captain of the Royal Guard, who had successfully sat up in the couch. "P-papyrus… He died fighting Rage."

Toriel covered her mouth with her hands as she gasped in shock, while Alphys's eyes bugged out of her head. Moisture began to fill the corners of Undyne's eyes, but she didn't break eye contact with Harley.

"What happened?"

"Right after Rage dropped all of us, he almost killed Sans, but Papyrus stopped him. It was… terrifying. Papyrus is the reason we killed Rage, for without the amount of Damage he had dealt, we all would've died down there."

Undyne blinked, ignoring the tears that had begun to slide down her face. "...When I told Papyrus that he was one of the elite members of the Royal Guard, he was… overjoyed. He took every job he ever did seriously, and this was no different. He saw the ones he was supposed to protect in danger, and he broke every one of his own morals - including not harming to the point of killing - just to fulfill his duty. Papyrus wasn't just a loyal guardsman and an excellent friend. He was a true hero, through and through. And I can say, without an inkling of a d-doubt." Undyne's voice shook, but didn't break. A large grin began to spread over her face, as the tears continued to fall. "That in his final moments, not only did Papyrus not regret defending his friends, but that he died with a smile - like all true heroes do." Undyne rose to her feet, and placed one hand on Harley's shoulder. "Papyrus loved you, Harley. He loved all of us. Honor his sacrifice, and live on knowing that you are never alone." Undyne hugged Harley, and grabbed Alphys's hand, the two of them heading upstairs.

Harley chuckled, and wiped his eyes. "She never can resist a dramatic speech, can she?" Harley said to no one in particular. He took a deep breath, and continued. "She's right. Let us honor the fallen, for they gave themselves for their families, their homes, and their fellow people. To honor their sacrifice…"

* * *

"...we must live on, pushing forwards, and not just simply  _living._ " Harley stood in front of a gathering in Ebott City's Cemetery, gazing out at the huge crowd of family and friends to the fallen. "To fall back into a monotonous day-to-day, eight to five life would be dishonorable to the fallen. I get it, you need to earn money, but when you aren't at work, or at school, try to actually  _live._  Go out with friends, visit your families, celebrate your children. Go out and play, drink, fuck," A small chuckle broke out in the crowd. "or stay home and game, read, or simply enjoy a quiet movie. I don't really care what it is, but remember that life is short, and you shouldn't always live it as if it always supposed to painful and stressful."

Harley chuckled lightly. "I guess to sum up all of my ramblings, I could simply say this - Remember that life is also supposed to be fun. If Papyrus was here," Harley's voice shook when he said the skeleton's name, "He would say…" Harley coughed into his fist, and did his best Papyrus impression. "DON'T BE SAD THAT THEY ARE GONE! BE HAPPY THAT THEY WERE HERE! FOR EVEN IF THEY WEREN'T AS GREAT AS I, SINCE NO ONE CAN MATCH THE GREATNESS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THE FACT THAT YOU MOURN THEM MEANS THAT THEY HAD A GREAT EFFECT ON YOU! SO WHEN YOU MISS THEM, TRY TO REMEMBER-" Harley coughed, unable to keep the impression up. "Sorry." He laughed, and a few members of the crowd laughed with him. "Remember the good times, instead of the fact that they are gone. And r-remember…" Harley's voice shook again. "That they will always be with you, in your heart and in your mind."

With that, Harley turned around and walked away, heading towards the car that Frisk and Chara were waiting for him.

The door opened, and Chara greeted him, her face wet from crying.

"That was a great speech, Harley." She remarked, scooting closer to Frisk in order to make space for Harley. "Got us crying again."

The driver took off, heading in the direction of home.

Several days had passed since the battle at City Hall. Since then, the Mayor had been pronounced dead, and Harley had been taken in for question by the police, only to be released, with them declaring him clear of any charges since he was acting as a "Militia leader" under threat of a terrorist group within the country's borders,

The media hailed him, Frisk, and Chara as heroes, with the day that the monster's came above ground being labeled as "Dreemurr Day" and the day Rage was killed being named "Harley Vogel Day." (Harley hated the name.) Monster's were being more accepted by the citizens of Ebott City, since they had helped defend their homes. Of course, there still citizens who were anti-monster, but most didn't seem too comfortable with voicing their opinions, afraid of being labeled as a terrorist.

Undyne, Chara, and Asriel all made a full recovery. Chara had a new scar on her throat where Rage had stabbed her, and Frisk had a burn scar on her back, which had also been dealt by Rage.

Harley had managed to escape without any new physical scars, which he was grateful for. He had a lot as is, and didn't want any more.

No one had seen Sans since Rage's death. He had gone into hiding, but Undyne insisted he was grieving, and would return when he was ready. Undyne had taken to carrying Papyrus's sword, the one that she had given him, and loudly told everyone stories about Papyrus. Mettaton, who was growing more popular every day, even had a segment on his show called "Papyrus Moments," where he shone a light on the everyday selfless acts that people do, all of which would've made Papyrus proud.

And the rest of them were just trying to honor Papyrus in their own way, doing their best to live everyday in a positive mindset and to help others in need.

The car screeched to a halt, pulling Harley out of his thoughts.

"What's going on?" He asked, and the driver stepped out.

"There is a man standing in the road." Frisk replied, and pointed. They watched as the man threw something at the driver, and he collapsed.

Harley opened the door, and clambered out of the car, with Frisk and Chara stepping out on the other side.

"Look, this isn't a fight you want to get into." Harley called out to their assailant. "And this is a new suit that I  _really_  don't want to ruin."

The man, whose face was covered by a hood, held out a black box in front of him. He pressed his thumbs into the center, and a bronze sword appeared in his hand, which he casually held at his side.

Harley sighed as he and the others summoned their energy weapons. "Last chance." Harley called. "Leave now."

"Because if you take another step forward…' Frisk started.  
"You're  _really_ not going to like what happens next." Chara finished,

Harley glanced at them. "Really?" He asked.

Frisk took a step towards the man, and he glanced in her direction, and Harley threw a knife at his hood, which caught onto it and pulled it down.

The face was instantly recognizable, for it was his.

"What the everloving fuck!" Frisk shouted, and glanced at Harley. He simply dematerialized his sword, and glared at the man.

"Longinus, we could've killed you."

The man shrugged and laughed. "Yeah, you could've."

"Wait, you know this man?" Chara asked. Harley nodded. "Why in the hell didn't you tell us that you met someone that looked like you?" She demanded.

"Well, maybe because when I met him, I was trying to pull Asriel from the Void." He replied. "Do you need to be reminded why I was there?"

Chara fell silent, and Longinus cleared his throat, clearly trying to get right to business.

"Look, I can't linger." He told Harley. "Are you coming or not?"

"Now?"

"No, in one hour, this way you can say good-bye and and get to where the portal is."

"And where is the portal?"

"At the beginning, where you would go when you reset."

"Wait, what portal?" Frisk asked.

Longinus glanced at her. "Your brother has been given the option to come with me to my multiverse."

" _Your_ multiverse?" Chara raised her eyebrow. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm going to put it simply, darling. Your multiverse is connected by a place I'm sure you are familiar with - the Void. But that isn't the only one, my multiverse is called the Attachment. And it is in danger of being absorbed by yours, due to some asshole fucking around with things he shouldn't on my side, which will have many people and evil creatures being sent over to your world, and leading to quadrillions of beings dying as my multiverse is destroyed."

"And Harley agreed to go?"

"I am now." Harley stated, meeting Longinus's gaze. "Look, I told you guys I needed a vacation, so I'm going to take one."

"But…" Chara stared at him, dumbfounded. "That's going to be so far!"

"That's the point."

Frisk didn't say anything, just kind of stared at him

"We need to get home, and now." Harley glanced at Longinus, who was shaking the driver awake. "I'll meet you at the portal."

Longinus nodded. "Don't pack anything other than your wits."  
"Get in the car." Harley lifted the driver, and placed him in the front seat. "I'll drive."

* * *

The three of them arrived at home.

"My children!" Toriel greeted them. "How-"

"Mom, I need you to gather everyone."  
"What do you mean?"

"Undyne, Freddy, Mettaton, Alphys, and Asriel."

"My child, they are all in the house already."

"Good, get them down here."

Toriel raised an eyebrow, clearly curious on why Harley was being so abrupt, but, she climbed up the stairs, heading to collect everyone that he had requested. Chara and Frisk sat, leaving Harley standing alone in the center of the room.

Toriel returned with the others in tow, and they all sat down in the couches on either side of him, waiting for him to speak.

"Alright." Harley began, "First I just want to say that I am honored to know all of you. Each of you are amazing in your own right, and have contributed in one way or the other in getting us all through the last week, and in supporting me as the leader of the army after the unexpected murder of Asgore.

"But now, I am going to be taking my leave."

"Where will you go?" Freddy asked.

"I… " Harley hesitated, unsure of how to explain. "I… am going to be leaving for a different multiverse."

Undyne and Toriel stared blankly at Harley, as Freddy and Alphys gave eachother odd looks.

"H-harley, I'm a-aware of all of the breaks in the ti-timeline, b-but the multiverse theory… is it p-proven?"

Harley nodded. "Yes. Both times I entered the Void, I met different versions of people I already knew, all claiming to not know me, because… I'm what is unique to this multiverse. But I met one different version of me, but he isn't from the Void. He told me about a different multiverse, one that is filled with different versions of me, called the Attachment."

Alphys opened up her mouth, but Harley held up his hand and continued to talk. "He told me that the Attachment is in danger of being absorbed into the Void, leaving dozens of dangerous creatures and entities to spill over as billions die on his end."

"Quadrillions." Chara said quietly.

Harley pointed at her. "Yeah, that."

"So… are you planning on coming back?" Undyne asked.

Harley blinked. "What?"

"Are you planning on coming back?" she repeated.

"Y-you aren't going to try and stop me?"

Asriel shook his head. "Harley, you deserve some time away. If this is what you need… Then do it."

Harley looked at Freddy and Toriel, who nodded in agreement.

"When do you leave?"

Harley glanced at his watch. "Now."

"S-so soon?" Toriel asked, tears springing to her eyes.

Harley strode over to her. "Yes, mom. Now." He hugged her, fighting back the tears that threatened to leave his eyes. "I'll be back, I promise."

She hugged him back, nodding as she smiled encouragingly, a smile that faded into despair when he turned away.

Harley hugged Asriel and Alphys, and stood in front of Undyne.

"Captain."

She saluted him. "My Prince."

"My final order to you, from now until I return - Keep my family safe, and..." He pointed at Alphys "Put a ring on her already, would you?"

Alphys blushed, and Undyne let out a broad grin, breaking salute and pulling Harley into a bear hug.

"As you say, kid. Go save a multiverse, for Papyrus, alright?"

"I will."

"And…" Undyne hesitated, and pulled the sword off her back. "Take this. It was Papyrus's, he would want you to have it."

"...are you sure?" Harley asked.

"I am. Take it, and return home safely."

Harley nodded, and turned to Freddy, and hugged him. "Take good care of my sister." He whispered, and Freddy nodded.  
He turned to Frisk and Chara. "Come with me, to the end?"

Chara nodded. "Of course."

Harley turned towards the door, and Chara followed him out. Frisk made to follow, but Freddy, who had noticed a dark glint in her eye, stopped her.

"Frisk, whatever you are planning, don't do it."  
She tugged her arm out of his grasp, and ignored him.

"Frisk, please!" He hissed, but she simply followed the other two out.

* * *

There was nothing.

The world was black, she couldn't feel, she couldn't hear. Almost all of her senses had left her; abandoning her to this darkness, in the void of nothingness she resided in.

Only her sight remained, as vivid images flew past her eyes, and she tried to reach out to the male, the one who had promised to help her, only to be helpless at the hands of the one he loved.

After an eternity of floating uselessly, unable to think or move, she felt a surge of warmth flood her right hand, and she made a fist, trying to grab hold of the warmth that was so far out of reach, screaming in desperation as the warmth left just as quick as it had arrived.

She was once again left in the darkness, floating uselessly as she screamed into the dark void, unable to even hear the sound of her own wails of pain and loneliness.

After an eternity, she hear a spark of sound in her ear, one that sounded like static, and she turned around, seeing a tall, thin monster, one that reminded her of the urban legends of Slender Man. She screamed, but was so shocked that she could hear her own voice that she stopped, and gazed fearfully at the creature.

"Who… who are you?" She croaked, and the creature quietly gazed at her, and she felt an odd sensation emanating off of the creature, one that felt like… grief.

"...I am W. D. Gaster." The creature replied, his deep, staticky voice sounding completely devoid of emotion. "It's time that you woke up, Emilia."

"Gaster…" She murmured, trying to remember where she had heard that name. "You… you are the father to… Sans?"

The skeleton nodded, and bowed his head. "And… Papyrus."

"Is something wrong? Did something happen to them?"

"You shall see." Gaster replied. "As of now, you need to wake."

"How do I do that?" She asked, throwing up her hands in frustration. "I've no idea!"

Gaster pointed behind her, and she saw a bright white light emitting from a door that she knew hadn't been there before.

"Before you go, remember this - I gave you those blasters so you can assist him. Harley is leaving, and you must make a choice."

"Leaving?" She queried.

"Yes. Time is short, hurry." Gaster faded, and Emilia spun to face the door. Without a second thought, she charged forwards, stepping through the door and exiting her dark hell.

* * *

"Harley!" Emilia shouted, sitting up.

"what in the everlovin'-" Sans scrambled off the floor, apparently having fallen off his seat. "what you playin' at, kid?"

"Gaster said Harley's leaving!" Emilia cried out.

"yea', i know. man deserves a rest. he passed through not too long ago."

"What'd he say?"

"didn't speak to him, he doesn't know we are here. besides, looks like chara and frisk are givin' him trouble, he was runnin'.

"Where is he heading?"

"probably to the anomaly in the cave furthest in." Sans pointed at a camera that showed a small portal opening. "it's a rift between worlds."

"Can you take me there?"

"sure, lets just find you some clothes."

* * *

Harley, Chara, and Frisk stopped in front of the entrance to the Underground.

"We are here." Harley sighed, gazed into the cave opening. "Seems like it was just yesterday that we stepped out of here together, valiantly hoping for a brighter future."

"Harley…" Chara's voice was quiet, and… Hesitant?

"Yeah?" Harley asked, not turning around; figuring that she was going to try to convince him to stay.

"Forgive me."

"What-?" In a brief second, Harley heard the sound of an object whistling through the air, and he lunged to the side, spinning to the dirt as a knife slammed into his shoulder. Wincing in pain, he ripped it free and threw it into the ground, quickly rising to his feet; and saw Frisk and Chara, both advancing on him with weapons drawn.

"This again?" He asked. "Are you serious?"

"We can't let you leave." Frisk replied. "What if you don't come back? What if you get killed?"

"So you choose to forcibly stop me?"

"The way Longinus was talking, this is your only shot to leave - so yes. We will."

Harley summoned a sword and shield, unwilling to draw the blade Undyne had given him. "Please, don't do this."

Chara gazed at him, her eyes devoid of any empathy. "I can't let you leave, Harley. I… I just can't."

"Chara, if you loved me, you'd let me leave!" Harley begged. "I - I  _need_  this."

Chara's hands shook, but she shook her head. "...this isn't about us, Harley. I know I will lose you by stopping you, but… I can't let you leave, either."

Harley growled, and held his shield in front of him, quickly charging up his fist with magic, and slammed his fist into the back of it, causing a magical shockwave to fire outwards that knocked Chara and Frisk off their feet. Harley spun, and sprinted into the Underground, Chara and Frisk scrambling to rise up and pursue him.

He flew through Asgore's palace, not hesitating to throw red balls of explosive magic to create openings in the walls as he ran to the elevator, where he cut a hole in the bottom, and jumped down, falling several stories. As he fell, he charged up his shield and his body with magic in an attempt to lessen the impact of the fall, but he still felt a sharp pain as his knees collapsed in on themselves on landing. He shouted in pain and immediately began to pour magic into his legs, grunting as the bones repaired themselves. He stood, and continued to run, hearing two  _thuds_ behind him as Frisk and Chara recklessly followed him down. He glanced back, and saw Chara was on her feet already, having somehow managed to completely avoid being injured from the fall, but Frisk was on the ground, healing her legs.

Harley threw a ball of magic at Chara, but she leapt to the side, rolling to dodge it, and sprinted at Harley, who threw the shield he was still holding, following it up with a second shield. She dodged the first, but the second struck her left leg, knocking her off balance and crashing to the floor once more. Harley spun and continued to run, sprinting through the room where Frisk fought Mettaton and through the Core, taking several random turns in an effort to lose the others.

Knowing that Chara and Frisk were still going to be hot on his heels, Harley made the split-second decision to not say farewell to Emilia, and continued to run.

He flew through Waterfall, across the bridge where he fought Undyne, the location that was the source for many of his nightmares.

He sprinted into Snowdin, barely registering the spot where he almost killed Papyrus, and past the skeleton's house, which still had a barely repaired wall from Frisk and Sans's fight inside the house.

Through the woods.

Into the Ruins.

Through Toriel's house, and past where he first met Chara.

Until he reached the room where he met Flowey, and the inevitable memory sprung up in front of his eyes.

_-leaping in front of the helpless Frisk, the bullets that were aimed at her now tearing into his flesh-_

Harley shoved the memory aside, and took the last few steps into the final room.

The beginning, where it all started.

It looked the same, except that the dirt in front of Chara's grave had been disturbed, showing the marks from when Sans had unburied Chara's corpse.

Longinus was standing by a blue portal, and looked excited when he saw Harley.

"You came!"

"Not now." Harley walked over to Chara's grave, and knelt in front of it. There was a rush of footsteps, as Chara and Frisk bursted into the room.

"You died a hero." Harley said aloud, and the two girls focused on him, as Longinus quietly stepped into the shadows. "Chara… you know, I still don't know the specifics on how you died?"

Chara blinked. "What?"

"I never really asked. I know I should, from Flowey expositing in the Genocide Timeline, but I ignored him, remember? Sans told me that you caused Asriel's death, but I didn't believe him. So…' Harley took a deep breath. "How did you die?"

"I…" Chara hesitated. "I convinced Asriel that he and I could save monsterkind. I poisoned myself, and after I died, I had him absorb my soul, and take me to my village. I wanted him to kill the humans, and take their souls, but he refused. And the humans saw a monster carrying a dead child, and they freaked out and attacked him. He ran Underground, gravely wounded, and died in Toriel and Asgore's arms." Chara gazed at Harley steadily. "Sans was right. I caused his death."

Harley nodded, and rose to his feet. "And none of that was altered by my appearance in this timeline?"

"How would I know?"

"True." Harley drew the sword off his back, and summoned a shield. "...are we really going to do this?"

Chara nodded, and Frisk glared at Longinus.

"If he loses to us." Frisk told him, her blue eyes beginning to glow with her Determination. "He's staying."

Longinus didn't reply, and just continued to quietly observe.  
"Please…" Harley begged. "Don't make me do this. Don't make me use this again." He gestured at the sword in his hand.

"Surrender, then." Frisk told him.

"You know that I can't do that."  
"Then... " Frisk gazed at him, a small glimmer of regret shining in her gaze. "Neither can we."

Harley sighed, and began to channel his magic into his sword, his eyes flickering with his building Rage. Frisk held her sword out in front of her, and Chara surprised him by summoning a sword of her own.

"What are the terms?" He asked.

"Two of us versus you. No limits, just don't kill each other." Frisk replied. "No healing, either."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry." Chara whispered, barely audible over the humming of the weapons.

"Me too." Harley replied, and he shot forwards, slamming into Frisk and knocking her to the ground. He stabbed out, aiming for her stomach, but Chara rammed his side, and swung out with her free hand, sending a volley of knives at him. Harley jumped into the air, somersaulting over the attack, but Frisk sprung after him, tackling him into a nearby wall. Grunting on impact, Harley quickly recovered, summoning a dagger and slammed it into Frisk's shoulder, and grabbed her by the neck, swiftly lifting her up and slamming her into the floor.

Hearing a cry of fury from his side, he glanced up and briefly saw a foot before Chara kicked him in the head, causing him to stumble back as she crashed to the ground. Summoning a shield, he blocked her punch and kicked her side, but she swept downwards, grabbed his leg and pulled him towards her, yanking him off balance and onto the floor. Leaping onto Harley, Chara began to pound into his face, but was only able to strike him a few times before Harley punched out, catching her square in the throat. She froze for a second, and Harley shoved her off of him, beginning to rise only to fall back as Frisk threw a conjured sword into the right side of his chest, forcing him back to the ground. She charged him, but he grabbed a rock out of the dirt and threw it at her, striking her directly above her left eye. She stumbled back and held her eye, and Harley rose, the sword still protruding from his body.

Chara stood, and Frisk glared at Harley, her left eye closed.

"Fuck. You." she snarled, seething in anger.

"No healing." He reminded her, and tore her blade free from his chest, his hand glowing with energy until it was so hot that it burned. He then inserted his hand into the open wound, cauterizing it, wincing in pain as he did so.

Chara leapt at him, but he dodged and pulled his hand free, briefly inspecting the wound. Sasified, he glanced up just in time to see Frisk had leaped at him, having torn the bottom of her shirt off and tied it around her forehead, in order to keep the blood out of her eye. He ducked and punched straight up, catching Frisk in her chest, the impact breaking her momentum and sent her straight to the floor.

Harley heard the whistling of objects flying through the air, and only had a brief second to raise a shield to deflect the volley Chara had sent at him; but Frisk sprung to her feet, and slammed into his side, tackling him to the floor once more. She began to punch him over and over, and Chara ran forwards, kicking him in the ribs and causing several to crack.

Harley roared in pain, and his vision went red. He seized Frisk by the shirt, and pulled her down, slamming her head into the ground. He pushed her off of him, and grabbed Chara by the throat, punched her twice, forced her onto her knees and kicked her in the throat, the strike breaking her collarbone.

Chara fell back, and began to cough as Harley's vision cleared. He gazed down at Chara, horrified at what he had done.

_-Chara fell to the ground, her neck broken-_

Frisk jumped on his back, and wrapped her arm around his neck, beginning to choke him. Chara rose, her collarbone glowing as she healed the potentially fatal injury.

"Give up, Harley." She told him, and raised her fist -

Only for a familiar hum to fill the air, followed by a blast of energy that slammed into Chara, forcing her into the ground. Harley slammed his heel into Frisk's foot, breaking several of her toes. She yelped in pain, and Harley managed to pull her arms off him, so he spun and shoved her away.

He glanced over, and saw Emilia, covered in a white lab coat that had a belt tied over it like a bathrobe. She had her Gaster Blaster floating over her head, and was holding a Cyan sword as her eyes glowed with a righteous fury. Chara rose, but Emilia fired again, forcing her into the dirt, and Harley seized Chara by her shirt, lifted her up, and slammed his fist into her temple, knocking her out.

He gazed over at Frisk, who was already weakened. She made a step towards Harley, only for Emilia to blast her with the cannon from above. Frisk fell to her knees, and Harley walked over to Emilia, dropping Chara as he did so.

"Hey, Harley." Emilia grinned. "Glad that I caught you before you left.

Sans, who was standing in the doorway, walked forwards ."she awoke, shouted yer name, and scared the crap outta me."

"I'm glad to see you, Sans."

"i wouldn't miss seein' you off, kid." He held out his hand, and levitated Papyrus's sword over to him, which Harley had dropped in the fighting. He stared at it, and held it out to Harley. "i saw you do some terrible things with this blade, kid, but now i hand it to you as a hero of both of our races. make me proud, harley, and return home safely."

Harley took the blade from Sans, and sheathed it. "Thank you, Sans, and I will." Harley dug his hand into his pocket, and pulled out Papyrus's scarf, holding it out to Sans.

Sans shook his head. "keep it, and make pap proud, kid."

"Then take this." Harley pulled off his jacket, and handed it to Sans.

"...didn't tori make this for you?"

"Yeah, she did, a very long time ago."

"the start of this timeline." Sans chuckled. "kid, that wasn't  _that_  long ago."

"It feels like it was. I was so naive, so…  _hopeful_ , that when everything worked out, it would stay that way. But now…" Harley shook his head. "I know better."

Sans accepted the jacket, and tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.

"come back, harley. please."

Sans turned away, and with a  _pop_ , he vanished.

"Wasn't he your ride?" Harley asked Emilia, but she shook her head.

"Harley, right before I woke, Gaster visited me."

"Oh? What did he say?"

"He said that he had given me the blasters to assist you, and that you were leaving soon."

"And?"

"Harley…" She took a deep breath. "Can I come with you?"

"What?" Harley was taken aback, clearly not expecting such a request from her. "Don't you have things to do here?"

"That doesn't matter. Sans explained to me why you are leaving, and Gaster must've given me these tools so I can help you save the universe." Harley hesitated, and she pressed on. "Please, I wasn't able to help you with the NHDS, please let me help you with this."

"...okay."

She squealed happily. "Really?"

Harley nodded, and glanced at Longinus. "Is that okay?"

Longinus shrugged and nodded, then pointed at his watch.

"Alright. We gotta go, and now. Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am."

"Go by Longinus, then. I need to say farewell."

She walked over to him, and Harley walked over to Chara, who was still unconscious. He lifted her up, and propped her up on a wall. He placed his hand in her's, and gazed at the floor.

" _Why, Chara? Why?_ " He thought. Hearing footsteps as Frisk approached him, he kissed Chara on her forehead and rose, turning as he did so.

"Well… we failed." She remarked, and gazed up at her brother.  
"You did." Harley replied curtly, refusing to meet her eyes.

She held out a hand. "Secret handshake?"

Harley gazed down at her, and shook his head. "...Good-bye, Frisk."

He walked over to Emilia and Longinus, who gestured at the portal. Emilia stepped in, with Longinus following, but Harley hesitated, turning to observe the room once more -

And there were two grey children, both of the ones he kept seeing; one was waving at him cheerfully; and the other was just gazing at him. The second looked - quite familiar.

Not wanting to continue to stare - could they be signifying something terrible? - He followed the others through the portal, the rift vanishing behind him.

Frisk sank to the floor beside Chara, and put her head in her hands.

She glanced at Chara, who still hadn't woken.

Then she gazed at where the portal had vanished.

" _I'm so sorry_." Frisk's eyes filled with tears, and she began to weep. " _But I swear… I will make you proud, and I will make Papyrus proud. When you return, Harley, I will be someone that you can be proud of._ "

" _So please, brother. Please return home safely_."

_**END OF TWINTALE ARC FOUR** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Thus ends Arc Four.
> 
> So there will be several chapters that will bridge the gap between arcs four and five. Arc five will have a time jump of a few years, so the chapters will be used so you know what the characters have been up to over the time gap.
> 
> Sorry about the extended gap this time! These last few chapters have been posted once a month, due to the increased amount of work I have, alongside my general pride in my writing having gone p. The release of this chapter also is accompanied by the update of the ENTIRE STORY, with arc 1 - 3's updates simply being grammar and a few wording issues, but arc four was updated with new bits to make it flow better, give people believable relationships, and to give a few characters better arcs. This is in large part with the help of one particularly sweetpotato, who has been a huge help to me. :D
> 
> For Arc Five, I decided to try something new. I sketched out the entire thing ahead of time (Amazing, right?) so i won't be fumbling for ideas as much. This way, I won't have to have huge updates to fix my own continuity errors.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I will be back before you know it!
> 
> (I love reviews btw) :D


	42. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So this will be one of the few chapters marking the time gap between the fourth and fifth arcs of Twintale. As Harley and Emilia are off fighting to save the Attachment, Chara and Frisk have to deal with the fallout of their last battle with Rage, and then with Harley.
> 
> These chapters will be much shorter then what I have been writing. I use Google Docs while typing on Arial Eleven, and usually write at least ten pages a chapter, something I started doing in Chapter 25 onwards (excluding chapter 27. :D)
> 
> Instead, these chapters will each feature a few encounters from our main cast, and will be posted much more frequent than my usual erratic schedule.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Freddy was pacing anxiously by the front door.

"Where are they!" Freddy muttered nervously, checking his watch once more. It had been several hours after Harley's scheduled departure, and they still hadn't returned.

Undyne was lounging on the couch, eyeing Freddy. Toriel had gone to oversee the repairs on her school shortly after Harley had left, probably in an attempt to distract herself. Alphys was in the kitchen, typing on a laptop while consulting some notes that she claimed Sans had sent to her.

And Asriel was napping on the couch, snoring quietly under the blanket Toriel had tucked him under before leaving.

"...Kid, for the millionth time, they probably went somewhere to grieve." Undyne rolled her eyes. "They have every right to be upset, seeing how much everyone has lost in the last few-"

Undyne cut herself off as the door was opened, and Frisk and Chara limped in. Frisk had a new scar over her left eyebrow, and Chara had a large bruise on one of her temples. Other than that, they had no visible injuries, but they both seemed exhausted, as if they had been fighting.

Undyne leapt to her feet, and helped walk the two of them to the couches, which they collapsed into.

Asriel opened his eyes, and quietly observed the scene in front of him.

"What the hell happened?" Undyne shouted, looking panicked. "Who attacked you!"

"Harley." Chara answered.

Freddy narrowed his eyes. "...you tried to stop him, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Frisk replied, refusing to meet his gaze. "We… we chased him through the Underground, but he fought us off with Emilia's help."

"S-she's awake?" Alphys asked, momentarily taking her eyes off of her work. "W-where is she?"

"She… she left with Harley," Frisk told her. "I don't know why, but it seemed really important to her, and Harley allowed it."

Freddy shook his head. "...I told you not to, Frisk."

"Freddy, I-"

"You are incapable of not betraying those closest to you, aren't you?." Freddy's eyes gleamed, the faint green of Kindness showing as he balled his fists. "Chara before, and now Harley, twice in a single month. I can't believe you." He turned away from her, and stormed out of the house.

"Freddy!" Frisk cried out, and struggled to her feet, chasing after him.

She caught up to him after a couple of seconds, and her gazed down at her, his lip curling into a sneer that contrasted starkly against the regret and sadness that swam in his eyes.

"Freddy, I-" she began to say again, but he cut her off once more.

"Frisk, I can't do this." He told her. "I can't trust that when the moment comes up, you won't stab me in the back in the name of what you deem is 'the greater good.' As of right now, I cannot see myself ever feeling safe around you, for even if I was watching my back every second of the day, you can, and would, simply overpower me if it was necessary. I… I can't live in that sort of fear, Frisk. So, despite what my heart tells me…" Freddy took a step back. "This is goodbye."

"Freddy!" Frisk sobbed, tears spilling out of her eyes and down her face. "Freddy, I'm going to change, I promise!"

Freddy smiled sadly. "If only I could believe that, Frisk." He took another step back, and turned, giving Frisk his back. He began to walk away, not wanting her to see that he was crying too.

"I will, Freddy! I'll prove it to you!"

But he didn't turn back, and Frisk fell to her knees, watching as the shape of Freddy's back grew smaller and smaller, until he turned the corner and out of sight.

"I promise ,Freddy." Frisk sobbed. "I will change, and I will be better."

Around the corner, Freddy leaned against the wall, shaking as he sobbed into his hands.

" _I'm sorry, Harley. I just can't be around her if I don't feel safe. But I will keep my promise, and I'll keep and eye on her from afar, making sure she is safe._ " Taking a few, shaky breathes, Freddy dried his eyes on the back of his sleeves, and continued on the path to his home. " _I will keep my promise._ "

* * *

Chara felt Undyne stand up, and gazed upwards at the fish lady. She watched as Undyne walked over to Alphys, and saw the two have a brief conversation.

"Kid…" Undyne started, then hesitated. "Chara…" she sighed. "Look, by all intents and purposes, you two broke the law and attacked your fellow sovereign. On every ground of the law, I can and  _should_ arrest you."

Chara just gave Undyne an empty stare, and held up her arms.

"Put those down, kid." Chara raised an eyebrow, and Undyne sighed. "Look, you and Frisk? You've both suffered enough. And while you aren't, well," Undyne pointed out the door, where Frisk was crying. "You will get your comeuppance."

Chara dropped her arms, lowered her eyes, gazing blankly at the floor. Undyne shook her head, and with a sigh she walked away.

Asriel scooted over, moving so he was beside Chara.

"You knew this would happen." Chara whispered quietly to her brother.

He nodded, and leaned his head on her arm after pulling the blanket over her. "Yeah, I figured. You two had to have some consequence come for you, and it fits that it was self-caused."

"Are you mad at me?"

Asriel frowned, but shook his head. "Not… not mad; more disappointed. You had a chance to start to build up trust in an already damaged relationship, but instead you did this?"  
"I… I lost him…" Chara shook her head. "I lost him, and… I'm too empty to even cry anymore. I've lost everything, and it's my fault."

"You still have me, Chara, and Frisk."

Chara didn't reply, but instead stood up, and walked into the kitchen, out into the hall, and up the stairs to her room.

" _Good luck, Harley._ " Asriel thought. " _You will need it. As for me…_ " Asriel rose, and walked over to Alphys.

"Hey, Alphys?"

"Oh!" the yellow lizard flinched, and almost fell out of her seat as she hurried to face him. "Y-yes, Prince Asriel?"

Asriel waved a hand, blushing. "Please, just call me Asriel."

"O-oh, okay. Wh-what can I help y-you with?" she stammered

"I know mom dismissed you as the Royal Scientist, but… I could use your help."

"D-does it have to d-do with the Souls inside you?" Asriel gave her a blank stare, and Alphys sighed. "I-i know the truth, Asriel. W-who do you t-think that Frisk harassed to d-discover how to make the s-soul container?"

Asriel shrugged. "Guess I didn't give it much thought."

"W-well, what do y-you need?"

Asriel took a deep breath. "I need help entering the Void, so I can meet with the Souls inside of me."

Alphys nodded. "I-i'll see what I c-can do."

* * *

Sans wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, shaking off the excess ketchup.

He took a swig of the whiskey that was in his other hand, and leaned back in his chair, chuckling softly as he stared at the screen in front of him.

" _SANS, I WILL CATCH A HUMAN! I WILL MAKE UNDYNE PROUD!"_

" _you gotta find one first, bro."_

" _I WILL! AND WHEN I DO, I WILL MAKE SO MANY FRIENDS, I WON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THEM ALL!"_

" _sure you will, bro. you can do anything."_

" _YOU'RE RIGHT! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, I CAN DO ANYTHING!"  
_ " _never forget that, pap. you're the coolest."_

The recording changed, the image dark.

" _why are you having me record, pap?"_

" _BECAUSE… WE BOTH KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING TOMORROW, AND I WANT EVERYONE TO REMEMBER EACH OTHER, NO MATTER WHAT."_

" _bro, everyone will return from tomorrow's battle."_

" _SANS, WE BOTH KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE IN THE SLIGHTEST. I HAVE THIS FUNNY FEELING THAT… WELL, WE BOTH KNOW HOW THESE THINGS GO."_

" _what do you mean?"_

" _JUST… NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, SANS, MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T GET LOST IN THE PAST, OKAY?"_ Even being unable to see the image, Sans could feel the stare that Papyrus had given him burning into his skull.

" _i promise, pap. but- "_

" _THANK YOU, SANS."_ Sans uncapped the camera lens, and the image of Toriel's door was the first thing that they could see. Papyrus's gloved hand reached out, and knocked on the door. It opened, with Undyne standing in the doorway.

" _Hey, you're late!"_ Undyne seized Papyrus by the shoulders, and began to noogie him.

" _PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!"_ Papyrus cried out, and Undyne laughed, nodding at Sans as she dragged Papyrus into the house.

Chara sat in the couch, smiling at a joke every now and again but overall seemed pretty down. Frisk, on the other hand, was loudly chatting with Freddy and Alphys, and beamed when she saw Sans.

" _Hey!"_ she cried out, and jogged over. " _How you doin, Sansy?"_

Sans shrugged. " _keeping an eye on you."_

Frisk groaned. " _You're going to hold a grudge against me, aren't you? Even though you got even?"_

Sans remembered rolling his eyes at Frisk. " _whatever. just don't attack me again."_ The image on the camera moved over the entire room. " _Harley's still asleep?"_

" _Yeah, I was going to wake him, but mom said to let him sleep."_

" _Good idea. He'll have to miss out, then."_ Sans chuckled. " _Come on, kid."_

" _Watch out!"_ Undyne shouted, and the camera captured a brief image of a cupcake flying at it before it fell to the floor, and staticed out.

Sans reached out, and tapped a button on the keyboard in front of him, stopping the playback from repeating. He leaned back in his chair, and allowed the tears that had began to leak out of his eyes to fall.

" _no resseructions this time."_ He reminded himself, " _i've seen my brother's dust spread for the last time. i should be happy that i no longer have to live the same few days over and over again, but… what i wouldn't give to hear pap's voice one final time."_

Sans took another swig of whiskey, tossing the bottle overhead when he realized it was empty. The glass shattered upon hitting the ground, and Sans reached under his chair, grabbing another bottle.

_Beep._

" _What's this? An email from Alphys?"_ Sans opened the email, and saw that it contained only a link. He clicked on it, and was brought to a live news coverage, with a man standing in front of the remains of a village. It wasn't in the human tongue he understood, but luckily it was being translated by a voice over.

" _-Reports from eyewitnesses say that it was a of extremists who had 'strange, demonic abilities,' as they summoned a bunch of 'energy weapons' and used magic to destroy several buildings, and one could even lifted up several people with magic, and impaled them on trees."_

" _More humans that have discovered magic, and are using it for malicious intents. There have been no ties to any organized groups of terrorists, such as the NHDS that had laid siege to Ebott City a few weeks ago, but -"_

Sans flicked the news off, and spun in his chair, glaring at the ground, seeing all of the broken shards of glass and empty ketchup bottles that had amassed over the last few weeks.

" _...i made a promise to not live in the past, but i've been uncertain of what i can do to move forwards. but i've found it. no one should suffer as my friends and i have."_

Sans gazed up at the picture of Papyrus he had put on his desk.

"i know what i have to do, papyrus." Sans said aloud, and he stood, grabbed the picture, and walked over to where he had dropped his hoodie. He then glanced at the jacket beside it, the one Harley had given him. After a brief second, he pulled on Harley's jacket, and tucked the picture of Papyrus into one of his inner pockets.

" _If you seek to hurt someone through magic… i'm coming for you."_

" _first, i need to get tori to resize this jacket."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - like I said, these chapters will be shorter, just telling small stories that have to do with what the characters are doing between the time jump, which shall be a three year jump. Either I will use the same format I did in this chapter (multiple POVs loosely connected by a related event) or will dedicate an entire chapter to a single character.


	43. When I Return

" _-and human monster integration is becoming more and more common, as Monsterkind further establishes itself in Ebott City, with both humans and monsters working to rebuild after the devastation caused by the attacks from the NHDS."_

" _In other news, the Prince of Monsters, Harley Vogel, was today declared deceased. Having vanished without a trace after a mass funeral in Ebott Graveyard last November, no one close to him knew where he had gone. Many thought that the remains of the NHDS had kidnapped him, but after six months without any notice or ransom, if he was kidnapped, it is likely that he was killed."_

" _All over Ebott City, crowds have gathered to mourn the fallen hero around City Hall, the location of where the NHDS leader known as Rage, was struck down by Mr. Vogel."_

" _We will now bring you to James Bay, who is on the scene."  
_ " _Hello, Tom, I am standing here in front of Ebott City Hall, where a crowd has gathered to hear the new Mayor, Lisa Kelsey, speak."_

After a few moments of the camera being jostled and zooming in on the little stage and podium that had been set up, a tall, dark woman in a business suit stepped in front of the podium, and after clearing her throat, she began to speak.

" _Thank you for gathering here, after we all had the worst confirmed for us today. As I stand here, only a few yards from where my predecessor was killed, I shall declare it once more- After six months, Harley Vogel, who was presumably kidnapped last November, was declared dead today, as there has been no news from anyone on his whereabouts."_

There was a loud, collective groan that broke out through the crowd, as people started to shout at her, the voices all blending together until it was one giant, illegible mess. Mayor Kelsey raised one of her hands, and waited until the crowd quieted down.

" _To address the few concerns that I was able to hear:"_

" _Firstly, we did attempt to locate Mr. Vogel. The Police department worked alongside his sister and fellow princess, Frisk and Chara Dreemurr, and Undyne of the Royal Guard, but we were unable to find any trace of him. Frisk Dreemurr claimed that if he was taken magically, their wouldn't be any evidence to find. The FBI then took the case off our hands, and have been searching since. And yes, they are the ones that declared him dead."_

There was another shout, and the mayor sighed.

" _No, we don't know if it was the NHDS, but… there is reasonable cause to believe that it was their fault, for there is no one else who would have motive to."_

" _So in order to honor the man who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of monsters, humans, and for this city, we shall be erecting a statue of him, right in this courtyard. And to honor those that fell, a area around the statue shall be roped off, and the scars on the land around it shall be memorialized also."_

" _As for the rest of us, we shall live to honor his last words, and live everyday to our fullest, because in this crazy world of magic, who knows if the next day shall be our last."_

" _That is all. I need to go home, and… mourn the hero that saved the life of my son."_

Freddy flicked off the TV, and sighed.

The last few months had been… terrible.

He'd been recognized as one of the humans who had fought alongside Harley, which had blasted his popularity through the roof, which gave him a  _lot_ of unwanted attention. He found it difficult to move through the hallways without a posse trailing after him, and many of the human teachers sang his praises through the roof. All of his sounded great but… he just wanted to be left alone. His heart still ached from his final confrontation with Frisk, so the last thing he needed was the people coming to him, trying to be with him. What made it worse is that he knew most people were just around him because his social status, not because they gave a damn about him.

He was glad that the people who were Anti-Monster were still keeping their heads low, trying to avoid being associated with the NHDS. He knew that wouldn't last, but he was glad that he didn't have to deal with all of the negativity while he was still trying to recover.

Freddy had kept the promise that he'd made to Harley and himself, and been keeping an eye on Frisk and Chara from afar. It'd been hard to make sure Frisk was safe, since he only saw her in a couple classes, but Chara's grades had quickly dropped, as she went from one of the top students in the school to barely passing. The teacher's kept trying to motivate her to work harder, but all of them, including Toriel, failed.

She just didn't seem to have any motivation to do anything anymore.

Freddy shook his head, and rose to his feet. " _I need some air."_  He glanced outside, and seeing that it had begun to rain, he threw on his jacket, and stepped outside, shouting to his parents that he was going for a walk.

Opening the umbrella that he had grabbed, Freddy stepped into the rain, heading towards the graveyard.

" _It's amazing on how much people can affect you in such a short time."_  Freddy mused, " _I knew Papyrus for such a short period of time, and yet… he has affected my outlook on life more than some of the people I have known for most of my life. I need to try to think like Papyrus, and-"  
_ Freddy heard a small  _bang_ and footsteps behind him, and he spun, summoning his energy sword as he did so.

"Whoa!" The kids behind him scrambled to a halt, and gazed at him in shock, their faces illuminated by his blade.

Freddy gazed at them, frozen, and the garbage cans they had knocked over slowly rolled in a circle.

"I'm… I'm sorry." the blade disintegrated, and he sighed. "You caught me off guard."

"Just watch where you put that fucking thing, alright!?"

Freddy lifted his gaze, and stared directly at the mother of the children.

"I apologize, madam. I was caught off guard, and I'm not very good with surprises."

The woman scoffed. "Just fuck off! You're too young to be using magic."

Freddy turned, and continued down his path, not wanting to further the discussion.

That kept happening. Whenever it was quiet, the smallest of triggers could set him off. It was… terrible. He was lucky that he hadn't harmed anyone yet.

Having arrived at the graveyard, Freddy stepped inside, and headed down the path.

Normally, the graveyard was empty at this time, so it surprised him when he saw two people, a couple, sitting in front of a grave, one with a new unmarked grave next to it.

He walked over to them, and saw that it was Emilia's grave that they were in front of, and that these were Emilia's parents.

"Hey, Mrs. B, Mr. B."

Emilia's mom was a teacher in Ebott City High, where he and Emilia had attended before Toriel's School had opened and they'd discovered they had magical affinity. He had know her pretty decently, and she had always been friendly to him.

Emilia's mother glanced up at him, her eyes red from crying. "Oh, hey Freddy." She greeted him, her voice cracking. "Why are you here this late?"

"I'm visiting a friend." Freddy pointed at Papyrus's grave, which was a few down from Emilia's "Why are you here this late?"

Emilia's father pointed at the empty grave. "It was announced that Vogel is to have a grave dedicated to him, and that was being worked on earlier, so we guessed that's his. We wanted to see our daughter before the area was tainted by the tombstone declaring him a 'Hero.'"

Freddy blinked. "But… he was a hero."

"He let you two, alongside many other untrained and underaged people fight in a combat that filled  _so many_  rows in this graveyard!"

"Rows that would've been filled anyways." Mr. B opened his mouth to talk, but Freddy cut him off. "Harley was against letting your daughter and I fight, but he recognized that we would do it anyways, and that we had a much better chance at survival if we fought alongside him. He saved our lives more than once, y'know."  
"He was with you guys in the school, where our daughter was murdered!"

"Because he was separated from us. He was originally with Undyne, Emilia, and Chara, but Rage, the leader of the NHDS, put Chara through the wall, and Harley was almost killed, presumably protecting Emilia. And he managed to get her away, but by the time he got to us, Emilia was already gone. No one knew where she was." Freddy knew lying wasn't the best course of action, but he was too upset to care.

"Harley-"

"Was a hero. He saved two races, and was thanklessly assassinated for it. If you need to hate someone, hate me. I was the first one who threw myself into combat to protect the Dreemurrs, which probably motivated your daughter to come along too."  
Mrs. B blinked. "You are just another victim in this, Freddy. Of course we wouldn't blame you for it, that'd be wrong."

"And I fought, regardless of my age. Because..." Freddy swallowed hard, before saying; "Because some fights are worth fighting at any age. And Harley - He was the  _pinnacle_  of that belief, and - well, he paid for that."

She gazed at the ground. "Maybe blindly hating Vogel is too. He did put himself on the line for everyone, and got killed for it."

"And Emilia was a stubborn child." Tears began to slide down Mr. B's cheeks. "You're right that she would've fought no matter what. Maybe instead of blindly hating Harley, we will put the blame on those responsible."

"Which is?"

"The Dreemurrs."

Freddy shook his head, and turned. "You're daughter was a hero, too." He told them. "She saved my life."

Freddy began to walk away, glancing back at them only one, and saw that they were both sobbing again. Great.

They had been unable to tell Emilia's parent's that she was still alive, since they could potentially tell everyone that they had all lied. Undyne had decided that it was better for them to believe that she was dead, instead of traveling interdimensionally with Harley.

Freddy disagreed, but he wouldn't go against Undyne's decision, even if it did break his heart to see those that loved Emilia were still grieving for her.

Feeling worse then he did when he left his house, Freddy turned around and headed back home.

* * *

_-gunshots rang off, , followed by distant explosions. Freddy ducked and weaved, trying to make sense of all of the destruction when Cruelty jumped at him, her scythe aloft. Freddy shouted, summoned a sword and shield, and thrusted forwards. He slammed into Cruelty, stabbing and shoving her to the ground. Summoning another sword, he lifted it up and began to swing when someone shouted his name and slammed into his side -_

And Freddy and his mother slammed into his cabinet, his head banging into the wood.

"Freddy, stop!" She shrieked. "It's us!"

Freddy blinked, and gazed at his other mother Elise, who had a glowing green blade sticking out of her stomach.

"Oh,  _fuck!"_ Freddy shouted, and ran over to her.

"Mom, I'm so sorry!" He cried out while dematerializing the blade and quickly sealing her wounds.

She gave him a weak smile. "It's okay, Fred. I should've woken you from the door when I heard you shouting."

"What happened?" Asked the mom who tackled him (Anny).

"I heard him shouting, so I went to shake him awake. In hindsight, I should've shaken him awake, seeing that I know about his condition and all."

Anny shook her head. "We need to get out of this town, and soon."

"Mom, I'm fine!" Freddy protested. "I just need time!"

"I believed you six months ago, Freddy, but now you are just as bad, if not  _worse_ , and you hurt your mother!"

Elise sat up, and after poking where the wound was, patted Freddy on the back. "First of all, that was amazing. Secondly, I know you want to stay Freddy, but maybe spending some time away from the place where all this happened would help? I mean, you would send a war vet back to Vietnam and expect him to recover, no would you?"

Freddy sighed. "...when will we be leaving?"

"A week after graduation."

"That's next week! How long have you been planning this?"

His moms exchanged glances. "Since March." Elise admitted. "The day after your birthday."

"And when were you going to tell me?" They didn't answer, and Freddy scoffed, snatched and pulled on a t-shirt, and walked towards the door. They followed him and called out after him.

"Freddy! Where are you going!"

"I need some air." He replied, and walked out, slamming the door behind him, stepping back into the rain.

" _I can't."_ Freddy thought furiously. " _I can't leave things like this, there are still things I need to do, to accomplish. I don't understand why they wouldn't talk to me first."_

Freddy stopped dead in his tracks, and was face to face with a familiar looking door.

In his frustration, he had gone to the home he hadn't been to in a while, the Dreemurrs.

The home of the person he needed to talk to the most.

Freddy raised his fist to knock, but hesitated.

" _Should… should I really…"_

Freddy glanced up at the window where Frisk's bedroom was, and saw the light was on.

" _Is she awake..? I mean, it is really late… Fuck it, I'll knock. If no one answers, I'll go home."_

Freddy knocked on the door, and not a few seconds later it swung open, with Toriel on the other end.

"Oh? Hello, Freddy. Why are you here at such a late hour?"  
"I… I…"

"And you're all wet, too. WHy don't you have an umbrella, or a jacket?" Toriel shook her head, her brow furrowing. "Come in, my child. We can speak in the dining room."

Freddy shook his head. "It's okay, I just need to speak to Frisk. It's… important."

Toriel's look of worry faded slightly, and was now mixed with cautious hesitation. "If I may ask… why?"  
"Please, Toriel… I need to speak to her."

"...okay. Please, come in. Step out of the rain."

Freddy stepped into the house, and glanced around. He could still picture the last time he had been here, when he angrily stormed out after Frisk and Chara had come back home.

"Take a seat, my child. I will go and retrieve Frisk."

Freddy sat down on one of the couches, and gazed around.

" _This was the last room we were all together…"_ Freddy gave himself a small smile. " _Emilia, Harley… Chara and Frisk, Sans, myself, and Undyne… I miss them all. I knew them for such a short time, and yet I miss them as if I knew them for most of my life. And now... "_

"Freddy?"

Freddy shifted his gaze over to where Frisk had spoken, and there she stood, rubbing her blue eyes as she adjusted the t-shirt she had pulled on, one that clearly wasn't hers.

"Hey, Frisk." He greeted her, unsure of what to say.

"Freddy, it's three in the morning. You better have a good reason for being here."

"I… I wanted to see you."

Frisk folded her arms over her chest, an eyebrow raised. "What, didn't want to approach me at school, or at a decent time? Think it'd ruin your reputation?"

"Rep- Frisk, first of all, that's idiotic. You are a hero to everyone, and people leave you alone because you and Chara have very clearly been grieving for the last half year!"

"Well, seeing how my brother left, and I have pretty much lost everything,-"  
"Frisk, you know  _very_ well that is your fault."

"Freddy, why are you here? Are you trying to remind me of my failings? Because trust me, I haven't forgotten."

"No… that's not why I came." Freddy took a deep breath. "Frisk… I'm moving. My mom's decided that we'd be better off in a different city."

"Why?" Freddy quickly explained his easy triggers and what had happened, and Frisk frowned.

"I mean… I see where they are coming from but… but…" Tears filled her eyes. "I thought that I'd… have more time."

Freddy gave her a sad smile. "That's what I thought, Frisk. I never hated you, and I wanted to come back and talk to you, set things straight before… before it was too late."

"Do you pity me? Is that it?"

Freddy shook his head. "No, I care for you, Frisk, and it pains me to see that you have been stagnant, after all of this time. What if Harley came back, and you were just moping around, instead of being someone that he can be proud of?"

"DO you really think that I give a damned on what he thinks? He left me, Freddy!"

"Oh, no, of course you don't. Of course you don't want to make the brother that you betrayed proud, and let him know that you've changed when he returns, that he will finally be safe in the place that he should be able to call home. You  _definitely_  want him to return back to a place where he can't trust anyone, and the only progress you've made is to become even more bitter than you already were!"

"You made a promise, Frisk. Where is your Determination now? Why aren't you using it to keep your word?"

"Where is the brash, headstrong woman who fought to protect those she loved? Because I can tell you that she would spit on the person you'd become, and call you a disgrace."

Frisk had begun to cry, and she sat next to Freddy, putting her head in her hands.

"I… I miss him, Freddy. And I've missed you. You taught me so much, and in the end, became the ultimate example of my failings and blind hatred, because you, a human, was a better person than I could ever hope to be."

"But it doesn't have to be that way, Frisk!" Freddy told her, as he placed hand on her shoulder. "I know that you are an amazing person, you just need to let that side of you show, instead of this bitter person you've been for years!"

Frisk raised her eyes, meeting his. "...when do you leave?"

"Next week."

"Can we… can we spend it together, for old times sake?"  
Freddy smiled slightly. "That's what I was hoping, Frisk. I don't want to leave on bad terms."

"So let's not."

* * *

They made up for lost time that week.

After attending the last day of school that monday, the two of them went to a party that Freddy had been invited to.

The next couple of days, they were busy with the city, preparing the area for Harley's funeral and monument.

And the last few days, they spent at Toriel's hanging out with Undyne and Asriel. He tried to see Chara, but she was always spending her time at Grillby's, and came home really late.

On the last day, Freddy was walking Frisk home from the graveyard, where they had visited Papyrus. When they were a block away from Frisk's home, she stopped him, and gazed at the floor.

"So this is it, huh?" Frisk asked. "After today, I won't see you for… maybe never?"

"Frisk…"

"So… I just want to tell you this now, in case I never see you again…" Frisk took a deep breath. "I… I love you, Freddy. I have for a while. It was something that I was figuring out in October, but by the time I realized it, it was too late, and I thought I'd never have the chance to. But… yeah. I just wanted to tell you, because I don't want to live to regret not."

"Frisk, that…" Freddy shook his head. "That's not one sided. I grew to care about you more and more as time passed, and even though I only knew you for a very short period of time, these months apart have been some of the worst in my life."

"But you are wrong in one aspect. This isn't the last time you will see me."

Frisk's face lit up. "It's not?"

"Of course it isn't, Frisk! I shall come back, but it will be a while. So, while I'm gone, I need you to try and live for you. Don't pine after me, or bemoan your mistakes with Harley, just learn, and be better. Live and love other people, because even if you don't have an interest in me when I come home, I don't care. Simply being your friend is enough, because I just want you to be happy."

Frisk nodded. "Freddy, let's make an oath."

"What are the terms?"

"You will contact me when you come back to Ebott City, and I will keep the promise I made to you, and to Harley. I will be a better person, but not just for you guys. I will be better for myself, and for my loved ones."

Freddy held out a hand. "Shake on it?"

Frisk agreed, and grasped his hand, and shook it. She then pulled him down to her level, and kissed him. His kissed her back, and when she pulled away, she laughed softly, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Sorry, I just wanted to do it once, in case it was my only chance."

"We shall see what happens when I return, alright?"

Frisk nodded, her blue eyes burning with her newfound Determination. "I promise, Freddy. When you return."

He nodded. "When I return."

Freddy turned on heel and walked away, as Frisk walked towards her home.

" _For Harley, Freddy, Chara, and myself, I will keep my word. And you shall see, Freddy, when you return home."_

* * *

" _More strange reports of the hooded reaper are coming out, as eyewitnesses claim to have seen it around the scene of every brutal murder of reported "Magical Terrorists."_

" _-the carnage in the last attack is insane, it appears that there was a struggle this time "_

"oh, good. i see you know about me."  
The figure that had been watching the news spun around, and saw the small figure in a hooded black jacket standing behind him.

The woman summoned a blade of green energy, one that was tinted black, and took a step forwards, only to be surrounded by three animalistic cannons. Her eyes widened, and she could see one of the blue eyes of the creature, illuminating its twisted smile.

"hope your day was a blast." he tightened his hand into a fist, and fired, his grin widening as the energy tore through the woman, disintegrating her into ash.

"another one bites the dust." The reaper commented, and snapped its fingers, vanishing into thin air with its cannons.


	44. Salty and Peppered

Chara yawned and hiccuped, slamming her glass onto the bar, accidentally shattering the glass.

“ _ Chara!”  _ Grillby snapped, as he pulled a dustpan out from under the bar. “ _ That’s it, I’m cutting you off.”  _

“C-come on, Grillbz.” Chara whined. “”Wh-why do you do this to*hic*me?” 

_ “I think I’ve been quite lenient. If Frisk or Harley, or Asgore forbid, Toriel, found out I have been letting you drink, well, I’d be lucky to-”  _

Chara cut him off with a wave of her hand. “First of all, *hic* Frisk isn’t gonna do shit, I’d flatten her. As for m-*hic*mom, _shhhhh,_ she can _heeeear_ you.”  
“And H*hic*harley, he’s-”

_ “Dead. I know.”  _

Chara glared at Grillby, knowing that he just stopped her from saying something she’d regret. “Gimme.” 

_ “No.”  _

“Grill-”

_ “Don’t make me call your sister.”  _

Chara groaned and flipped Grillby off, standing and stumbling towards the jukebox in the corner. 

She gazed at the songs listed, and inserted a quarter, pressing a button. 

Grillby whipped his head around and gave her a scorching stare as the song  _ What’s New Pussycat  _ filled the diner, followed by several people shaking their heads in exasperation. 

Chara chuckled, and sat down in the booth next to the jukebox, putting her head down in exhaustion. 

“Hey, aren’t you Chara Dreemurr?” 

Chara lifted her head, and saw a petite latina had slid into seat across from her, her blue-gray eyes sparkling. 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“Oh, hell yeah! My name is Dawn. Dawn Jablonski.

“Ja- Isn’t that Polish?” 

Dawn placed her elbows on the table, and placed her head between her hands. “Yeah, it was my father’s. I take after my mother.” She combed her fingers through her dirty blond hair. “Except for this. This is from dad.” 

“Anyways! I’ve been wanting to meet you ever since monster’s came above ground, but I’ve been unable to. I’ve met your mom, since I’ve been commuting home from college ever since I displayed magic potential, but I  _ still _ wasn’t able to meet you. Then my dad was killed, and I avoided Ebott for a while, but still practiced what I learned, but mom finally convinced me to continue to learn, so I returned in April, but I was saddened when Vogel was pronounced dead, because mom told me that Vogel and family saved mine, and honestly me too, and -”

Chara put her hands on her temples. “H*hic*hold up. Slo*hic*ow down.” Dawn stopped talking, and Chara slowly tried to process all of the information that had been thrown at her. “From the top. Your name is Dawn Jabla-Jabo-Jawhatever, and is a Polish-Latina that looks more like her mother than father.” 

Dawn nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! Jablonski, and very much a Spaniard, too.”

“You are in college, so how old are you?” 

“I am the fine ripe age of nineteen. My birthday is on December sixteenth, and I was born in ‘98.”

“What is-”

“My Soul type?” She giggled, and ejected her soul, displaying a Perseverance Soul at LV 1. 

“Your dad..?” 

Dawn, who had been bursting with excitable energy ever since they’d started talking, seemed to simmer down a bit. “He… he was killed at the school. He and mom were in the militia that Vogel has enlisted, with dad having Soul Magic, and mom using her rifle and combat training.” 

“Combat-”  
“Mom’s former military, and dad learned to fight from her. He had a Bravery Soul.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Dawn tipped her head, raising an eyebrow. “I keep hearing that, but I usually feel like most people pity me, or aren’t being genuine. But from you… it feels real. Makes sense, you lost your father to the NHDS, too.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did he die?” 

“Mom said they got separated as she was defending a group of students and a few of the militia who’d lost their nerve.”

“He could’ve-” 

Dawn shook her head. “Mom said that the part of the school he was headed to ended up being where you and Vogel were fighting Rage and the other chick. Mom said that last she saw him, he was trying to protect a drake monster from a woman with a scythe.”

“Oh… He tried to defend Snowdrake from Cruelty, the woman who almost killed my sister and a few others before being killed by Undyne and Harley.” Chara hiccupped as she shuddered, remembering how Harley finished Cruelty. 

“Yeah… I had hoped to thank Vogel, but it seems that is impossible now. My mother met him, though. She said she thanked him before the funeral, before he disappeared. And of course, she fought with all of you in City Hall.”

“She did?” 

“Yeah! She told me that she was with the group that pushed into City Hall behind you guys, and even followed Grillby after Pride.” 

“Huh, *hic*  interesting.” Chara leaned her head on one of her hands as Dawn stood. “Leaving?” 

With a mischievous glint in her eye, Dawn shook her head. “No, I’ll be right back. Song’s ending.” 

Chara watched as Dawn walked over to the jukebox, and waited for several minutes as she inserted several quarters, finally hitting play.  _ What’s New Pussycat  _ began to blast out of it again, and Dawn chuckled, heading back over to Chara.

Chara eyed her suspiciously.  “...what did you do?” 

“Something I heard from a comedian. I tweaked it, just the smallest bit.” 

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, and when the song ended, there was a brief lull before  _ What’s New Pussycat  _ began to blare out again. And when it ended, it played again. And again. And again.

Chara glanced around the diner, watching as people started to become visibly annoyed. “Dawn, Exactly how many times is this going to repeat?” 

“Play? About ten times. Repeat? Twice more.” 

The song started again, and people began to gaze around the room, trying to find the culprit of the song loop. When it started again, one slammed his hand into his forehead, facepalming himself in frustration. The song ended, and people visibly sighed in relief all around the room, before the first few note to a song that Chara was familiar with began to play.

_ “We’re no strangers to love.” _

_ “You know the rules, and so do I.” _

“You.. You didn’t” Chara gasped.

Her face alight with joy, she giggled, trying to contain her laughter. “I did.” 

_ “I just wanna tell you, how I’m feeling.” _

_ “Gotta make you understand.” _

_ “Never gonna give you up. _

_ “Never gonna let you down. _

_ “Never gonna run around, and desert you.” _

Unable to contain it anymore, Dawn began to laugh uncontrollably, slamming her hand onto the table. And as she watched the other patrons in Diner began to loudly swear and shout their frustrations, Chara began to chuckle, until she was laughing right alongside Dawn. 

It would seem that she had made a new friend.


End file.
